


Ignire

by Moonbreeze19



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Faked Suicide, Gen, I'm Sorry, Kalos-chihou | Kalos Region (Pokemon), Pokemon Death, a lot of anime dialogue, alain deserves better, and his manga personality, because I'm lazy, because they're barely even there, but I'm trying my best, but with ash greninja, far from perfect, i'm not tagging all the gym leaders, laverreshipping, or whatever you wanna call it, x is basically just calem, xyz spoilers, y is a sky trainer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26016493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonbreeze19/pseuds/Moonbreeze19
Summary: “If you wish to make your dreams a reality, you must become the strongest.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~X has everything he’s ever wanted - his friends, Y, and somehow, the Champion title. It nearly feels like a dream. Then, in the span of five short minutes, it all becomes nothing short of a nightmare.Y is a rookie Sky Trainer who thought she’d finally found her place. Then suddenly, she’s on her own, and only has one job. It’s time for her to take a leap, and fly.Alain has always had only one goal - to be the strongest of them all. Then he realizes what, exactly, he’s done. And he has to turn around and fight, or everything’s over.On the night of X’s Championship ceremony, the entire world turns to Lumiose - for the completely wrong reasons. And it takes only a few moments for our heroes to realize that this is it - everything rests on their shoulders, and they only have one shot.Take aim. Draw back. Ignite.(Essentially a XYZ finale rewrite, but using the Pokemon Adventures manga cast. Manga knowledge not required.)○ COMPLETE ○
Relationships: X/Y | Yvonne Gabena
Comments: 39
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Welcome to Ignire! Whether you're here because you saw it in the tags (and somehow actually decided it was worth reading) or because you're a friend of mine who has read my other fics, hi! This was the project I put together over the last two weeks of my summer break - 14 days, 31k words. This fic is completed, and will be updating about every other day - at least, that's the goal! (I am cross-posting, and I do want to make sure both platforms are on the same schedule.) But it will be completed and all posted eventually, do not fear! 
> 
> As you can tell from the summary (I'm hoping), this fic is essentially a rewrite of the finale of the XYZ anime (and will contain spoilers for it, of course). However, I'm using the manga cast (with some exceptions), alongside elements from the X/Y games. It's honestly a bit of a mess - I've been told by my friends this fic is good, but we'll see. It was something extremely out of my comfort zone, so I apologize if it isn't perfect, but I've never written anything like this before - I just took a shot and went for it. So I really hope you guys enjoy! :D 
> 
> Note: Rated T for language, assumed/faked suicide, character death, and possibly a few other things but that's honestly the gist of it? I'll try and add warnings for things that might be upsetting to some people when the time comes <3
> 
> (I also forgot to add that at the time of this fic, Alain is 18, X, Y, Trevor, Tierno, and Shauna are 16-17, and Mairin is about 11. idk if that's important, but yeah :P)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X knew it all had to be too good to be true. But what is Alain doing here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter! Just to start things off, this scene takes place at the ceremony right before the credits in the X/Y games - in this case, it's not medals for saving the world from Team Flare, however. It's simply for X becoming Champion. Couple things, before we get into it, explaining this universe:
> 
> \- I wanted to give X Chesnaught, I really did. But in the end, rewriting the entire arc without Ash-Greninja became a little bit too much. Sorry felllow pokespe fans :(  
> \- Alain somewhat replaces Serena as the rival - it's similar to Ash's rivalry with Alain in the anime. Here, X's relationship with Y is a lot more like their manga relationship (but with shippy stuff, bc the tag is there :P)  
> \- It's the battle from the anime, not gonna lie. It's basically exactly the same (except that X's Greninja runs Night Slash instead of Cut. Seriously, Ash? Cut?), because I needed something long, I suck at writing extended battles, and the anime dragged on a 1v1 for longer than I ever could :P
> 
> And I'll let you get into it now! Farewell for the time being, and I'll see you at the end! :D

_X POV, 7:42 PM_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~_

To X, it all still felt like a dream. The crowds lining the red carpet, the medal resting on his chest. His friends, grinning in the front row. Y, right next to them. She always said he needed to smile more, and he grinned right at her. She smiled back. Professor Sycamore was saying something that X was guilty of not _exactly_ listening to, but he just figured if he stood there and smiled, that would be enough. He was perfectly aware of all the eyes on him, and for once, he was okay with that. He’d spent so, so long running from what he’d become - but he let their cheers flow right over him, burning the exact way they clapped into his mind. He wanted to remember this day forever. He wanted to remember it, as the day when he finally realized that it had all been worth it. He’d done it, and he hadn’t done it alone. He wanted to remember it as the day he was really, truly, happy. It was perfect. 

Then, of course, the glass shattered. The crowd turned, and fell silent. X stiffened, and tried to ignore the way Professor Sycamore audibly gasped. He just stared, blankly, with a single thought running through his head. _What is_ he _doing here?_

But he saw the Pokeball clenched in Alain’s fist, and immediately knew. Alain wanted what he always did. A battle. X readied himself, pulling out Grenousso’s Pokeball from his waist. He took a deep breath - inhale, exhale. Then again. First battle as Champion, and against his rival. Of course. He met Alain right in the eye as the other trainer stopped, and X climbed down from the stage. He tossed Grenousso’s Pokeball up and down, catching it softly each time. Up and down, back and forth. An easy, steady rhythm. 

“Battle me.” And X wasn’t surprised when the words flew out of Alain’s mouth. Only he would have that kind of courage - to interrupt his ceremony, to challenge him in front of everybody. X knew he was supposed to be surprised - shocked, even. But the last time he’d battled Alain… it was before Snowpoint City, wasn’t it? They were overdue. It was that simple. 

“Alain, what are _you_ doing here?” Sycamore asked. His voice cracked with something only comparable to a horrible mix of hurt and confusion, and X saw Alain visibly stiffen. He refused to meet the Professor’s gaze, completely silent. He thought he heard Sycamore say something else too, but then he cleared his throat and it was all gone. “Champion, you don’t have to accept his challenge-” It took X a moment to realize the Professor was talking to him this time. But when he did, he put up a single hand to silence him. It fell quiet, spare the muttering of the audience. X held out Grenousso’s Pokeball, looking it over once. Then he looked back up at Alain, and nodded. 

“One on one. Grenousso and Kuro, as usual.” Alain nodded, and X looked at the crowd. He summoned every bit of professionalism he had in his body, and stood tall. “Seeing as this is an unofficial single battle, I will not be staking my title as Champion on this match.” Not only that, but he would be an absolute fool too. He wouldn’t lose his title in his first match. “Alain, are you ready?” He looked back at his rival, who nodded - the only person he had never beaten. He looked down at Grenousso’s Pokeball, and at Kuro’s clenched in Alain’s fists. Then he forced a smile, and tossed the sphere into the air. 

“Grenousso!”

“Kuro!” As if on cue, Alain released his Charizard, just as X’s Greninja flipped through the air. It landed on the ground with its arms crossed and gaze narrow, while Kuro dove and flew through the air, shooting a blazing orange Flamethrower into the air for show. He landed next to Alain, and roared. Alain muttered something to his Pokemon, and then X moved. 

“Grenousso, go!” Immediately, the Greninja shot forwards. Across their makeshift battlefield, Kuro flew forwards just as quickly. 

“Kuro, Flamethrower!” The Charizard shot into the air, and X cursed under his breath as an orange stream of fire shot down from the sky. He’d forgotten how fast that thing was, and Alain had clearly been training. He always was. 

“Dodge it!” But Grenousso matched his speed well and leapt into the air, spinning right as the flames narrowly missed one shoulder. “And use Night Slash!” X added. Then one of his arms shone purple, and he smashed into Kuro. The Charizard winced and flew backwards, landing and skidding across the ground. X didn’t smile, but he nodded slightly. First hit was his, which was always good. The damage was decent, for sure, X observed. But no different from usual, Kuro responded with a fierce roar, and X kept going.

 _We’re putting 110% into this, Alain. I won’t lose my first battle as Champion. Count on it!_ So X pressed one hand to his chest, and called out Grenousso’s name. The Greninja responded, and then X let go. 

A huge torrent shot into the air, swirling around his partner. The Greninja shifted, and then the water disappeared, forming a huge, pointed shuriken on his back. X’s heart began to race, and he blinked once, and then twice. Shifted, between his own view and Grenousso’s. He caught the light in Alain’s eyes, and the bare smile that graced his face. He watched the way his mouth moved as he muttered something to himself, and then he was raising his wrist into the air, pressing one finger onto his Keystone. The light shot out in all directions, and the crowd erupted. 

“Keystone, respond to my heart! Beyond evolution! Mega Evolve!” Kuro roared, and the Charizardite on his chestplate shone blue, the tendrils of light connecting it to Alain’s wrist. X watched in silence, through his own eyes, as Kuro shifted. His wings grew larger, spikes appearing on his shoulders. Fire shot out from the sides of his mouth, and then blue flames engulfed his figure entirely. They flew into the air and then disappeared, revealing the jet black Charizard standing. Kuro roared again, and X nodded slightly to himself. He shifted into Grenousso’s point of view, and the Greninja wordlessly shot forwards. 

“Use Double Team!” X moved first, again. Dozens of clones appeared on all sides of Grenousso, each appearing exactly the same. 

“Mow them down with Flamethrower!” Alain countered quickly. The blue beam of fire shot through the air, and the ground erupted into smoke. X waited. _Jump,_ he commanded silently. Then he breathed, just once. _Now!_

“Water Shuriken!” He screamed. Grenousso appeared from his spot among the smoke, glowing blue. He ripped the water shuriken off of his back, and it spun through the air. 

“Dragon Claw!” Kuro’s claws shone green, smashing the attack in half. But X didn’t let up in the slightest. 

“Aerial Ace!” He had to keep moving - follow up, and then again. He couldn’t give Alain any form of space to move, and he had to control the entire battle if he wanted any shot at winning…

“Dragon Claw, once more!” Alain yelled. The two met in the air, Grenousso’s arms drawn backwards and shining white. He clashed with Kuro’s green claws, flipping through the air. They both landed, and then shot forwards to strike again. X moved with his Greninja easily - left, right, up and down. Every attack he countered with one of his own, and every strike he either dodged or blocked. Every blow he-

X bit back a scream as Kuro smashed a claw into Grenousso’s side, sending him flying backwards. So much for dodging. So much for keeping up the pressure. So much for- 

He clenched his side, cursing to himself. Damnit. Grenousso climbed to his feet, and X looked up. Alain had simply overpowered him. What could he do now? 

“Flamethrower!” Well, stop that move, for starters. 

“Night Slash, let’s go!” Again, X moved with his Greninja, who drew both arms back and forward into a cross in front of him. The blue flames rushed closer, and Grenousso blocked them with a Night Slash, crouching low as the flames shot above and around him. The flames cleared, but Alain was pushing back already. 

“Blast Burn!” He yelled. Kuro shot into the air, diving in a loop. X blinked, and then the Charizard already had a fist in the ground, sending cracks splitting across the cement. The whole ground shone orange, light and heat beams shooting into the air. X moved quickly. 

“Water Shuriken, into the ground!” Grenousso drew an arm back, pulling the shuriken off its back into the earth. He smashed it down, sending rocks and steam flying forwards, meeting the Blast Burn in the middle. It all exploded once more, and the crowd erupted into cheers. X didn’t even wait for the smoke to clear. 

“Aerial Ace!” He screamed. He had to keep moving, at all times. Grenousso raced forwards, shooting through the smoke and dust blindly. He smashed into Kuro without hesitation, and then jumped and flipped up to land another blow. From the Greninja’s view, X saw a brief flash of fear light in Kuro’s eyes, and the attack came crashing down on the Charizard’s head. The crowd started cheering again, and Alain’s face settled into a barely concerned smile. He said something, but X barely caught the tail end of it. 

“...however, I have to be the strongest one! I can’t lose to anybody ever again!” X froze. “Kuro! Use Dragon Claw!” There was a light, a rage, almost an _insanity_ in Alain’s eyes X had never seen. His throat went dry, and Kuro shot forwards with claws glowing green. X had no time to react as Grenousso flew backwards with a cry, and X flinched, trying not to collapse to the ground himself. It hurt, watching as Grenousso flew backwards across the ground. It hurt, feeling the pain of merging with his partner himself. But he just swallowed the pain, looked back up, and kept on fighting. 

“Keep going, Grenousso! Use Aerial Ace!” He cried. The Greninja raced forwards, ignoring any pain he could have felt at the same time. Its arms drew into white blades as it bent down, running faster and faster.

“Dragon Claw!” Yet every time, Alain was there to counter. Every time, Kuro struck back with those massive green claws, stopping Grenousso just in time. He flew forwards and they met in the middle, in another stalemate. Then they both shot past one another, and X stepped slightly right. Grenousso struck forwards again, just as Kuro countered. They flipped through the air, clashing again and again until Grenousso flew backwards, landing on the ground. Kuro came crashing down after him, claws drawn back, and the Greninja wordlessly shot into the air, narrowly dodging the attack. Kuro slammed into the ground, and then spun around without a second thought. 

“Water Shuriken!” 

“Thunder Punch!” 

They both screamed at the exact same time, and both Pokemon raced forwards. Kuro had both fists drawn back, cracking with yellow electricity, as Grenousso yanked the shuriken off its back once more, pulling it back. X cursed to himself. He always forgot about stupid Thunder Punch. _Of course_ there was coverage. Before X even knew it, Kuro was attacking relentlessly. It swung Thunder Punches left and right, and Grenousso could do nothing but play defense, using the Water Shuriken to block and protect itself. X kept moving, and Grenousso kept blocking. He looked through his partner’s eyes, and watched as Kuro swung left and right, desperate to land a hit. Then he saw his opening. 

Kuro drew back for just a second. Grenousso pulled the shuriken back, and then threw it forwards. It spun through the air, and smashed directly into Kuro’s chest, sending the Charizard careening backwards, long talons skidding across the ground. It didn’t fall. X kept pushing. 

“Water Shuriken, once more!” He screamed. His heart kept racing faster and faster, and he felt everything, down to Grenousso’s fatigue, determination, and breathing. Then the Greninja was drawing a Water Shuriken back, raising it above his head, and a whirlpool shot into the air. X froze. The column grew taller, wider, stronger, and the water spun faster and faster. It became streaked in a gold he had never seen before, and across the battlefield, Alain’s jaw dropped. Then the torrent exploded into nothing but mist, revealing Grenousso standing with a huge Water Shuriken above his head. It was so, _so_ much bigger than usual, and it shone golden. Alain’s eyes widened, and X fought back a smile. 

“Use Blast Burn!” But Alain remained so, so calm. He leaned down to match his Charizard’s movements, and Kuro shot into the air, just before slamming a fist into the ground. The dragon was swirling in blue fire, shining with a power X hadn’t ever seen before. The aqua and cerulean of the flames crackled and burst into a blazing orange light, while the ground erupted. Grenousso’s eyes flashed red, and he hurled the shuriken above his head with all of his might. X could barely breathe, and using this much power _hurt._ But it was worth it. It had to be worth it. It had to work. He had to win-

Stones erupted out of the ground, and fiery hot beams of orange followed. The Water Shuriken flew above it all and Kuro’s eyes widened, the Charizard completely freezing over in what X could only hope was fear. Grenousso looked down, and X didn’t even know what to think anymore. Then he was out of time, and everything exploded. 

Grenousso screamed. X screamed, blazing pain erupting across his side. Kuro screamed, from across the battlefield. Alain, as usual, remained the perfect picture of calm, and the entire battlefield clouded over in orange and white smoke. Grenousso flew into the air, and X fought to stand. The smoke shot into the air in a grand display of nothing but pure power, and then it cleared. X cursed to himself, and Grenousso’s limp form crashed to the ground. The Greninja climbed to his feet, slowly, just as Kuro staggered, standing shakily on his feet. Alain’s mouth was drawn into a tight line, and X could make out the slightest bit of fear in his eyes. Grenousso staggered, struggling to stay up, and X wanted anything but for him to fall. He wanted to win, he was so, so _close-_

Nobody moved for a long moment. X watched, trying to breathe, trying to focus. Trying not to fall, because if he did, Grenousso would too. He waited, hoping and praying that Kuro would crumple to the ground. He never did. And Alain moved first.

“Finish it, Kuro. Use Flamethrower,” he commanded quietly. X froze. Kuro roared, sending one last blaze of fire shooting through the air. Grenousso didn’t move, and X didn’t think. He just braced himself for the inevitable pain that came with a loss, and the pain that came with the connection he had with his Pokemon. Every time, it would hurt more and more, because they were one. And then somehow, it never came. Instead, the Flamethrower hit something else, exploding into white smoke. Grenousso still screamed, and X didn’t know why. Then the smoke cleared, and he screamed too. 

“Grenousso!” The entire crowd fell dead silent. Alain’s gaze froze over completely, and X screamed again. 

There was a brown vine that had simply shot up out of the ground, suspending Grenousso in the air. The Greninja cried out, trying to move, but he couldn’t. He _couldn’t._ Why? What was that thing? What was wrong with-

“Elec, use-” X’s voice cracked, and he dropped the Pokeball he was fumbling with. He dropped to the ground, breath coming in short gasps, because he _couldn’t breathe-_

“Kuro, Dragon Claw,” Alain said weakly. The Charizard shot forwards, slicing through the vine with his monstrous green claws. Something about the way Alain’s voice cracked sent a trill of fear down X’s spine, as Grenousso landed back on the ground. He collapsed, surrounded in a faint outline of water for just a moment before reverting to his normal form. X took a deep breath, and stood up to crouch at his Pokemon’s side. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off. And then the screams began.

Vines shot up out of the ground, brown and swirling in red. X watched, unmoving, as Alain ducked and rolled to avoid one, fumbling into his pocket and spraying Kuro with a Max Potion. He tossed one to X, and he sprayed Grenousso too. He didn’t know what was going on, or why he needed it. At that point, X couldn’t even think-

He turned to stare at where she had been watching. She stood, unmoving, and X’s breath caught in his throat. She needed to run. She needed to get out of there. He couldn’t let her get hurt, not here-

“Y, run!” It took every last bit of the strength he had to scream after her, and he couldn’t even stand anymore. The strength was coming back, slowly, but could still barely breathe, black pulsing on the edge of his vision. “Y, I’ll catch up later, I _swear-”_ She ran. X hated the look in her eyes. He hated the fear, and he hated how scared she clearly was for _him._ But she ran. X finally breathed. And then he sprinted after her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (My author's notes will not usually be this long, I swear)
> 
> Just a quick first chapter for you all! I tried to keep all the chapters around this long, but they do get a bit longer as the fic goes on. As you might be able to see, the entire main cast will have fully nicknamed teams - X's follow his manga naming theme, while Alain's are from my head (and the internet), and so are Y's and anybody else's. I'm sorry, I couldn't bring myself to use Y's canon naming theme. Solsol? Really?  
> Honestly, I have to say it - this is the calm before the storm. Things only go downhill - and quickly - from here. So I hope you're all ready, and I hope you're all looking forward to this as much as I am! See you all later! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y learns of Lysandre's true intentions, and begins to think that Alain isn't who anybody thought he was. Squishy might not be, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i mentioned it in the tags, and i wasn't lying - i cheat by using the anime dialogue all the time, bc i'm lazy and what lysandre says makes no logical sense no matter how you put it :P

_ Y POV, 7:48 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

To be completely and fully honest, Y wasn’t even quite sure what had happened. Five minutes ago, she’d been watching X receive his trophy, and a medal that celebrated his newfound Champion title. Then Alain, of all people, had walked up. He’d challenged X to a one on one, and of course, like the colossal  _ idiot  _ he was, X had accepted. Had he really expected to win? Alain was good - really, really good. Y had never seen him lose to anybody before. So when the Blast Burn hit, she thought it was over. Even that golden Water Shuriken couldn’t save them. She remembered hearing X’s scream, and she remembered the way it hurt and burned and how her heart broke- 

Y took a deep breath, and kept running. She tried to remember how it had all gone so, so wrong...  _ Right.  _ Alain’s Charizard had been just about to finish it off with a Flamethrower when those huge, red and brown vines had started, suspending Grenousso in the air. X had barely been standing, and he couldn’t even throw Elec’s Pokeball into the air. Alain’s Charizard had been the one to free Greninja, and then the trainer had tossed X the Max Potion that clearly brought both him and Grenousso back from the brink of unconsciousness. But then the vines had started coming from  _ everywhere -  _ people started screaming, and running. Y hadn’t moved, even as she heard Shauna calling after her. She’d just stood there, watching X, praying that he was going to be okay. And when he’d screamed at her - to run, to sprint, to leave him behind - she wasn’t even sure why she did. She should have stayed. X needed her. It wasn’t safe. She just wanted him to be okay…

“This way!” Y yelled, back in the present. She couldn’t be focusing on that. She had a job - to make sure she, Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna all got out in one piece. She had a hand on her Noivern’s Pokeball, and was about to toss it into the air when a vine shot up out of the ground in front of them. She cursed, and then skidded to the right and kept running. She wasn’t even sure where they were going. She just wanted to find X, and quickly. 

“Y, look!” Shauna yelled, stopping Y in her tracks. She whipped around, and then let out a huge breath of relief, watching as X and Alain sprinted towards them. She nearly ran to meet them, only for another vine to shoot up out of the ground. X swerved around it, and then stopped, panting. Alain stood behind, clearly trying to remain calm, even while his face contorted into what Y could only assume was a faint expression of rage. She didn’t know why, and she didn’t like it.

“X, My Arceus,” she said breathily. Part of her wanted to yell at him, for leaving himself behind. The other part just wanted to kiss him, just in case-

“Is everybody all right?” He asked bluntly. Y stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. 

“We’re fine, but are you-”

“Don’t worry about me,” he interrupted. “Everybody, you need to make sure your holocasters are on. We…” His gaze drifted towards Prism Tower. “We might have to split up,” he said. Y stared at him in near disbelief, but she knew the look in his gray-blue eyes. She reached into her bag, fumbling for her holocaster, and then her blood ran cold. 

“X.” He turned, and she ran her hand through the entire space all over again. Not there. “I - Squishy’s gone. He-” Y paused, and looked around. She didn’t even have to think about it. Somehow, she knew. “He’s going towards Prism Tower. I know it.” She expected X to stare at her in complete, utter disbelief. How could she know? How had she lost him? Somehow, the words never came. 

“Go after him, quickly. We don’t know what could have happened to him,” he said instead. Y stared at him. “Alain and I are going to find Mairin.” X turned to Alain, who nodded. He kept his gaze fixed on Prism Tower, on the vines and red flowers that grew up and down and sides. He didn’t speak, and Y clenched her jaw. 

“Right. Be careful,” she said, forcing the words out of her throat. She wasn’t going to argue, but she didn’t like it. She didn’t like leaving him, and she didn’t like not knowing if he was okay. But it wasn’t like she had another choice, anyways. She followed Alain’s gaze to the top of Prism Tower, and then Y froze. “Something’s glowing up there. Glowing red.” It was all she could see. They were too far away to make anything out, but-

“It’s Zygarde.” Alain’s voice was cold, and firm in a way that Y couldn’t even begin to understand. How would he know? How would he- 

“What do you mean, Zygarde?” Shauna said. Her voice shook. She was afraid, Y could tell. She hated that. It made her feel like she wasn’t strong enough.

“These vines. They’re the work of Zygarde, for sure.” Alain paused, and his voice dropped. “What did he do?” It was so, so quiet. Y probably wasn’t even meant to hear it. But she did - what did Alain mean,  _ “he,” _ and what else did he know that he wasn’t letting on? She tried not to let the anger in her chest begin to boil, and just nodded, once, at X. 

“We’re going. Catch up with us as soon as you find Mairin, and-” She took his hand and squeezed it once. “Be careful, okay?” She hated how weak she sounded. She hated how weak she felt. But X just nodded at her, forced a smile, and then she made herself run. She heard Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna following her, and that was all she needed. 

-

Lumiose City was huge. There were no taxis, and even from her spot on her Noivern’s back, she hadn’t found Squishy anywhere. He was heading towards Prism Tower - Y knew that much. She was pretty sure he was still running, too, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he’d transformed into his Houndoom form for faster mobility. Just meant they had to fly faster and catch up, quickly. Then one of the screens on the side of a building crackled, the news coverage freezing. Then it was gone, replaced by a red symbol of fire. It rotated, once, and then it disappeared, replaced by a face she’d seen at least many times before. 

“To my beloved Kalos Region, and the entire world,” Lysandre started. Nightingale skidded to a halt, and Y turned to stare. But what did he want? “I am Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare. They are with me to do my bidding.” She felt herself growing cold as the audio crackled, gaze fixed on the screen. She tightened her grip on her Noivern’s fur mane. 

“I know him,” Trevor started from behind her. “He-” The broadcast cut him off. 

“We are here to remake the world, into a place of pure beauty and peace,” Lysandre continued. “Our purpose is to transform our world, into an exquisite example of creation.” The camera cut to a video of a black and red creature, standing atop Prism Tower. It shone a bloody crimson, its eyes narrow and blank. “Now, this Pokemon’s name is Zygarde - a legendary Pokemon.” Y froze, and her head began to spin, jaw going slack. Alain… Alain had  _ known.  _ He had been  _ right _ , that was Zygarde, and that meant he clearly- 

Y forced herself to breathe - she wasn’t thinking straight. She knew she couldn’t be, it was all just really overwhelming. She watched as Lysandre continued. 

“It will preside over the new order of the Kalos Region, and as such - as leaders of this new order - we have decided to join forces with this powerful guardian.” He paused to breathe. “Zygarde is angry, at the greed of both people and Pokemon. The discipline of this world has been lost, and humanity is out of control. We have forgotten how to share. Without any form of generosity, people begin to steal from one another, controlled by their own selfish needs. When that happens, there is not enough for anyone to live. In order to live without this stealing, we must reduce the number of beings on this planet.” She froze. Lysandre continued. “Unfortunately, this means that only the chosen ones can move into our bright, hopeful future. We, Team Flare, along with the fury of Zygarde, will be the ones who will make that judgement. The new order will do away with the chaos of the world, and will bring about the beautiful future we desire.” It fell silent, and the audio cut out. The screen went black. Y’s blood ran cold, and she turned to her friends. They stared at her blankly, and her throat dried up. She didn’t know what to say.  _ “Reduce the number of beings on the planet.”  _ Lysandre wasn’t even hiding it. They were in the middle of an apocalypse. A massacre. He was actually going to  _ kill them- _

“Y.” Trevor’s shaky voice nearly went right over her head. She needed to think, she needed to stop freaking out- “Y, what are we going to-”

“That’s bullshit!” She blurted. Trevor stopped, and her friends stared at her. But none of them made a move to speak. Y’s heart was pounding in her chest, but she kept going. “What Lysandre said is absolute _bullshit,_ okay? None of that can be true. We’re not-” Her voice cracked. “We’re not going to die here. We’re not going to let him do all that stupid stuff about ‘reducing the number of beings on this planet’ or any of that! We’re going to-” She paused to breathe. “We’re going to kick his ass into the next universe, and I’ll do it myself if I have to,” she spat. “I don’t care who stands in my way.” She hoped she sounded more confident then she felt. Arceus, she hoped she sounded brave. Strong. Fearless. Like the leader her friends deserved. They stared at her, in almost astonishment. “Let’s go,” she said, voice dropping. She looked down, and then she and Nightingale were off again, leaving the rest to trail after her. She had to get to Squishy. If nothing else, maybe the mysterious green cell could prove a little bit useful. Maybe. Hopefully. Ugh, Y had no idea what she was even doing anymore. She just knew it was her job to find a way. 

She’d always been fearless - she always went against what others told her to do, and she was even better at ignoring orders. She told herself she just had to be herself - do what she always did. But if she wasn’t careful, she could be leading her friends into certain death. Damnit. Certain  _ death,  _ and it would all be her fault- 

“Y, watch out-”

“Thank you! Nightingale, use Dragon Pulse!” She screamed. She clung tight to her Noivern’s mane as he shot up into the air, destroying the vine with a decisive swirling beam of red and purple. It split down the middle, and Y shot forwards again, leaning forwards. “Keep your guard up, everyone, we have to-” She froze. “Squishy!” Y didn’t understand. Somehow, she could hear it. Squishy wasn’t doing well. He was in pain. Was this what X felt with Grenousso? “Squishy’s in trouble,” she said, breath catching. “We have to go faster, Nightingale,” she muttered. The Noivern nodded, and spread his wings even farther. Prism Tower was close - so, so close…

“Behind-”

“Flamethrower!” Trevor yelled. Y whipped around, watching as Trevor’s Charizard, Vulcan, blasted away another two vines that had been coming up from behind him. He dodged another one, and Trevor clung tighter to his partner’s neck. Y clenched her jaw, and then turned back to the tower. Nightingale flew faster, and she could only hope the others were following. The Noivern spun and dodged one vine after another, Y clinging tight to his back. This was dangerous - she knew that. But there was absolutely no way she was going to die  _ here,  _ of all places. Not to Lysandre. She had to protect them - her friends, X. Her Pokemon. Nightingale blew away another vine with a Dragon Claw wordlessly, and Y forced herself to think. What was she going to do when she got there? Attack  _ Zygarde?  _ She couldn’t attack a legendary Pokemon. Maybe she could kill Lysandre...  _ Shut up, brain. Stop being an idiot. You can’t just kill him. You’d get in serious trouble for that, for Arceus’ sake. Be smart. Think, Y, think- _

“Y, watch out!” Shauna screamed. Y blinked. Too late.

Nightingale let out a cry of pain, a Dark Pulse smashing into one wing. He flipped over, Y falling with him. Quickly, she twisted so that she’d land on her back, her Sky Trainer crash landing practice coming back to her without a single thought. The fall hurt, but it wasn’t too bad. She dusted herself off, barely wincing, and then crouched at Nightingale’s side. The Noivern flinched, but then climbed to his feet again, shaking himself off. Y let herself breathe for just a moment, and looked up at the source of the attack. She cursed under her breath.

They’d made it. On one hand, they’d made it all the way to Prism Tower, and in one piece. That was always good. On the other, Squishy was nowhere to be seen. And in front of them stood two women, clearly Team Flare, clad in a scarlet red, with a Liepard and a Druddigon, clearly not letting them through without a fight. How fun. 

“You’re in the way,” Y spat. She tried not to let the fall shake her. She was fine. They just had to take these guys out, and then find Squishy-

One of the scientists let out a harsh bark of laughter, and turned to her partner. They met Y in the eye, and glared at her. 

“Sorry, but we can’t let you go any farther,” the green-haired one purred. Her Liepard stepped forwards, snarling. “Aliana, take care of those two, won’t you?” Y whipped her head to stare at the orange haired one - Aliana, clearly, with the Druddigon, who eyed Tierno and Shauna with a blank stare. Then she snorted and let out a harsh laugh. 

“ _ Of course _ I can! Druddigon, use Dragon Pulse!” Y cursed to herself. Tierno and Shauna weren’t going to be strong enough by themselves, and she was only proven correct when she saw the fear light in her friend’s eyes. She threw a Pokeball through the air violently, and then another. 

“Velvet, take the Dragon Pulse! Ahri, Dazzling Gleam on the Liepard!” She ordered efficiently. Her Sylveon leapt through the air, blocking the Dragon Pulse. It bought Tierno and Shauna just enough time to call out their Blastoise and Venusaur, while Y’s Delphox swiftly attacked Bryony’s Liepard. “Gale, to me! Cover Ahri, use Flame Charge! Velvet, help Tierno and Shauna with a Moonblast!” Her Talonflame swooped over from where it hovered next to Shauna, who it had carried all the way to Prism Tower, blazing in an orange fire as it shot forwards. Y reached for another Pokeball, drawing it back. The Liepard went flying, while Blastoise hit Druddigon with a Hydro Pump, following up Velvet’s Moonblast. She wasn’t going to play fair - she didn’t need to. She just needed to beat them and get into the tower, where she could at least be of some help to X, and maybe Alain.  _ If Alain’s even on the right side,  _ she thought bitterly.  _ Maybe he’s- _

But that was when she heard it. 

Y would know Squishy’s voice anywhere. The sound it made, such a far cry from the voice of any other Pokemon. She whipped her head to the side, and saw just in time as it shot out of the ground. The small cell was floating through the air, glowing a neon, blinding green. It was like a flash, almost. Then there were tendrils, reaching out all across the city. Green, and more green. She’d seen it before, back when Squishy would transform into its Houndoom-like form to fight. But this was different. There were more - so, so many more. The trails blazed through the sky, surrounding Squishy in a glowing viridian aura. Y gasped, watching as he shifted. 

“Z-1!” Bryony exclaimed. Y didn’t know what that meant. All she knew was that something was happening to Squishy, something that was-

The light disappeared, flashing green. Squishy... Squishy wasn’t there anymore. In his place, shooting through the air and powering up a Dragon Pulse, was...

Well, another Zygarde. 

Y didn’t breathe. She didn’t think. She just watched as it charged, aiming at the red monster atop Prism Tower.

Then it fired. Somebody screamed. And everything exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love y. have i mentioned that? arceus, i love y :P


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the midst of all the chaos, Alain is forced to take a side, revealing to X who he really is, and where - or with who - his loyalties lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is appropriately titled, in my google docs, “3. alain deserves better." very accurate, i know. this chapter is... this chapter is the very, very beginning of the angst train. i hope you like getting your heart ripped out, because i really, really tried :P (also, it's gonna be a little bit confusing. probably. for those who haven't seen the anime or watched the mega evolution specials. but there's more context/backstory later, i think :P)
> 
> **Possible trigger warnings for brief (it’s one sentence) slightly suicidal thoughts and/or suicide ideation**

_ Alain POV, 7:50 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

Alain was a little bit shaken, and he didn’t get shaken easily. Or... nevermind. That was an understatement. Alain was fearless. And he was also fucking  _ terrified.  _ He didn’t even understand what the hell Lysandre had done. Just one moment ago, he’d been facing X and Grenousso in front of hundreds - thousands, probably. He’d been winning. Then the vines had shot up out of the ground, X had almost  _ died,  _ and then they were running. He only had two thoughts on his mind. Zygarde, and Mairin. Wherever she was, she wasn’t safe. She’d been at the ceremony - Alain knew that. He’d seen the way she had looked at him, back when he had first showed up. Then he’d lost her in the chaos of the crowd, and he had to find her. Mairin wouldn’t be able to defend herself. Alain didn’t want to think about what could happen. Instead, he just ran through the city with X at his side, screaming her name again and again, praying for an answer. 

“Alain!” He skidded to a stop, X besides him, and looked up. Mairin stood up on a platform above him, and Alain immediately yanked Kuro’s Pokeball off of his belt, tossing it into the air. “Alain, what’s-” The fear in her voice broke him. Then she screamed, another huge vine erupting out of the ground. The people around her all screamed and ran, but Mairin stayed firm. She just stared at him, nothing but pure fear in her round eyes, and Alain felt himself crack. 

“Kuro, use Dragon Claw!” His Charizard shot forwards, slashing through the vines without a single moment of hesitation. They split down the middle, and Alain didn’t breathe for a moment. “Did we-” Two more sprang up in its place, and he cursed under his breath. “Okay, fine! Dragon Claw, again!” At this rate, he’d lose his voice from all the screaming. He couldn’t even bring himself to care anymore. 

“Grenousso, use Aerial Ace!” He turned to X, who released his Greninja to follow up. Alain stared at him for a moment, at the fearlessness in X’s eyes. X… 

He admired X, a lot. He had such a strong bond with his Pokemon that Grenousso could gain the power of Mega Evolution even without a Mega Stone. He admired him for other reasons, too. He took his losses well. He kept growing stronger and stronger, and he didn’t just give up. Alain wanted to be as strong as X was, one day. 

“Grenousso, Night Slash! Again and again!” The Champion yelled. Alain stopped staring, and forced himself to focus. Everytime they cut down the vines, new ones would surface. It was endless, almost. Alain cursed again, and Kuro shot forwards with another Dragon Claw. 

“Kuro, smash through the vines and grab Mairin!” He screamed. They couldn’t keep playing around. They had to get to Prism Tower, quickly. HIs Charizard sliced through the vines with ease, and reached out for Mairin. “Mairin, we need to-” Another vine shot out of the ground, entangling Kuro and lifting him high above the ground. Mairin screamed. Alain flinched, and then swore. “Kuro, use-”

“Mairin, run! Go find Diantha or the Professor, and they’ll help you!” Alain froze, and whipped his head around to glare at X. “Grenousso, get Kuro out of there! Water Shuriken!” Damnit. Fucking damnit. What the hell was X thinking? 

Grenousso slashed through the vine holding Kuro with ease, and the Charizard swooped down to land at Alain’s side, panting. He snarled, swiveling his head in all directions cautiously, and Alain placed a hand on his shoulder in a futile attempt to calm him down. When he shot a glance back at the platform, Mairin was gone. He fought the urge to scream.

“X, what the hell?” He spat. X didn’t even flinch. He turned, and met Alain’s gaze evenly. He felt his blood being to boil. “Why the hell did you tell her to run? She isn’t safe by herself! If she gets hurt, I will absolutely murder you-”

“Do you really want to try that?” X interrupted evenly. Alain froze. “She’ll find help. You and I have to get to Prism Tower,  _ now. _ ” Alain swore, again. X had a point, of course. He always did. But he couldn’t just  _ leave  _ her. Not when he’d just found her, and not when she had absolute no means of protecting herself. She could die. X had to understand that. He couldn't lose her, not after  _ everything- _

“Don’t you understand??” Alain forced himself not to scream, and clenched his fists. “She might not find help. She might-” His voice cracked. “X, I can’t  _ lose  _ her.” He hated being this weak. He hated everything, he hated all of it, he hated  _ X _ -

“You’re not going to,” X said coldly. “Mairin will be fine, I promise-”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep!” He screamed. “Don’t make promises that you’ll just break in the end-”

“And are you two really just going to stand there and argue?” A smooth voice interrupted. Alain froze, and his blood ran cold.  _ Celosia.  _ A Sludge Bomb landed inches from his feet, and Kuro snarled. Alain put out a single hand to hold him back, and he whipped his head around to stare at where the attack had come from. Celosia stood with her Drapion, one hand on her hip. Alain stared at her, nearly blankly. “All right, good. Pay attention,” she spat. “You finally ready to listen?” Alain looked down. He didn’t like where this was going. 

“You’re with the assholes who tried to take Squishy,” X spat. Alain tightened his jaw, completely silent. Celosia just smirked at him, flicking a strand of purple hair over her shoulder. 

“I’m glad you remembered. But today, I’m after something different.” Alain cursed to himself, again. X wasn’t supposed to know. How long could he really keep this up? “Now I’m after you!” Celosia’s voice broke him from his thoughts. He whipped his head up to glare at her, and his jaw went slack. After…  _ X? What the hell does Team Flare want with- _

“After me?” X questioned. Alain stared at him, and then back up at Celosia. She met his eyes evenly, as if daring him to challenge her. Behind him, Kuro snarled. 

“What the hell do you mean?” Alain spat. X turned to stare at him. “What the fuck do you mean, after-”

“Lysandre’s orders, Alain,” Celosia interrupted with a shrug. She smiled at him, and Alain looked down. He didn’t dare look X in the eye. 

“I… Alain? Do you know her?” X asked.  _ Of course I know her,  _ Alain thought immediately. But he couldn’t say that. X wasn’t supposed to know who he was, or who he fought for. He just clenched his fists at his sides, swearing over and over in his head-

“Alain, what the hell is going on here?” X snapped. He stopped thinking. He didn’t speak, either. He just stood there, useless, as usual. Behind him, Kuro stood, completely silent. Alain had tried so, so hard. He knew he wasn’t really one of them. He never had been. Why was he with Team Flare in the first place? For Mairin. For Chespie. To be… the strongest. To repay Lysandre. That was all it was, he wasn’t like  _ that- _

“Does he know me?” Celosia laughed. Alain didn’t dare look at her. “Of course he does, we’re colleagues!” He froze, trying to ignore the way his fists started to shake.  _ Damnit. Fucking damnit, Celosia. Leave X the fuck alone, and leave me out of this- _

“Alain, what the hell is she talking about? You’re-” X’s voice cracked. Alain tried not to flinch. “You’re with the ones after Squishy?” He spat. “Alain, what the fuck?” He didn’t look at him. He couldn’t. Damnit, he’d fucked up  _ again- _

“X. Champion.” X turned to stare at Celosia. Alain kept staring at the ground, cursing over and over. Why did everything keep going so wrong- “Lysandre wants to see you right away, and my associates have been sent after Z-1. Alain, let’s get moving.” 

“And that’s the last fucking thing I want to do right now,” he muttered to himself coldly. X didn’t hear him. Instead, the Champion called out to him  _ again,  _ as if he hadn’t heard him the first time-

“Alain, whatever she’s saying, don’t listen!” He snapped. Oh. So X thought there was still some good in him after all. How ironic. “Alain, let’s go.” He felt X’s hand close around his wrist, and begin to drag him away. It took almost no effort to yank it free, and X turned back to stare at him. “Alain, we-”

Then they were on him - Team Flare grunts, from all angles. Each had a snarling Houndour at their sides, and X looked around desperately, back pressed against Grenousso’s. Alain couldn’t bring himself to look at him - not when X called his name one last time, and not when Celosia ordered the Confuse Ray. Certainly not when he heard him crumple and drop to the ground, completely unconscious, or when Grenousso followed just moments after. Not when he heard them clipping bonds around X’s arms and legs, and he couldn’t look up even when they boarded the aircraft. In fact, the first time he looked anywhere other than the ground, or his own lap, was when they were flying to Prism Tower. He looked out the window, once. To see what had happened. Then he’d looked back down, cursed at himself, cursed at Lysandre, and tried to pretend that the fact he’d just gotten one of his only friends kidnapped wasn’t bothering him at all. 

So he spent the rest of the aircraft ride trying not to scream.

-

A Team Flare Admin opened the door with a press of a button, and Alain stepped out onto the edge of Prism Tower. He saw Lysandre, standing just a few feet away, watching the chaos. He strode towards him, and forced at least some form of calm into his voice. 

“Lysandre. Why did you drag X into this?” He spat. He had a million questions. He wasn’t sure why he asked about the Champion, out of everything. Lysandre wouldn’t dare hurt him, would he?

“Alain, there you are! What do you think?” Lysandre gestured to the city below them, and Alain froze. “Isn’t it exquisite?” He balked, and stared. His leader continued. “Thanks to you, the system is complete.” Alain’s heart nearly stopped. What the fuck was  _ that  _ supposed to mean? What system, what was Lysandre even saying- 

He breathed, for the first time in what felt like forever. He clenched his fists, and swallowed. 

“I haven’t done anything. There’s nothing-”

“The world will be at peace,” Lysandre interrupted smoothly. His eyes narrowed. “...just as I’ve been working towards.” Alain stared at him. The red Zygarde let out a cry, and a wave across the entire city. Vines sprung out of the ground, smashing through buildings - even from the top of Prism Tower, Alain could see it. “Isn’t it… beautiful?” Alain stared at him in pure disbelief. What was Lysandre  _ thinking?  _ Beautiful? He was  _ killing  _ people, and destroying the entire city. Alain didn’t...

“You’re destroying the city, and harming innocent people,” he spat, finding his voice. “There’s nothing  _ beautiful  _ about that. How can this be what you thought world peace looked like? You said you were protecting us!” He heard the anger rising in his tone, and he hoped Lysandre did too. Because fucking damnit, Lysandre had done so much good, so why was he saying he wanted to  _ kill  _ them all-

“Yes,” Lysandre replied smoothly. Then his ice blue eyes narrowed, and Alain’s blood ran cold. “I’m protecting… the chosen ones only.” 

He froze. He let Lysandre’s words sink in, repeating them again and again in his head.  _ “I’m protecting the chosen ones only.  _ What the hell did that even mean? He swallowed, hard. Then he looked up, forcing himself to unclench his fists at his sides. 

“Lysandre. You said you had to be strong, to protect us.” His boss turned. Alain forced himself not to look away. “Is this what you meant by that?” He had to. He could talk him out of it. He could prove to Lysandre that this was wrong, bring back the man he knew, the one that had offered him so, so much. He just had to stay calm, calm-

“You speak of the power to protect, Alain. But what do you want to protect in the first place?” Alain froze. “A tomorrow that is worse than today?” He stared, blankly, and then at the city.  _ "A tomorrow that is worse than today?" What does he  _ mean  _ by that? How can anything be worse than what he’s doing- _

“Lysandre, all preparations are complete!” A stupidly cheerful voice sounded. Lysandre looked up, and didn’t stop smirking. Alain just got colder, and stiffer. What did Lysandre want now? What could he have done-

He saw it. His heart nearly stopped. Slowly, he watched as X rose into the air, still unconscious. His entire team was with him, each of them bound with gray and red orbs on all limbs. Alain just stared, and felt himself shaking. Fuck, why was he shaking?

_ You did this, you asshole!  _ He cracked. His head began to spin, and his eyes wavered.  _ You did this to him! You could have saved him. You could have stopped them, you could have just run when you had the chance, you didn’t have to leave him and pretend that nothing was your fault- _

He stopped thinking. He couldn’t keep thinking. Damnit, he couldn’t break, not here-

“What the hell is this?” Alain’s head shot up, and he immediately wanted to look away. X’s voice was strained with forced anger as he struggled against his restraints. He looked to both sides of him, staring at his team. “Elec, Luke! Is everybody okay-” He looked down, for the first time. Alain stared. “Grenousso! Grenousso, are you okay?” There was no response, besides for a slight grunt from X’s Hawlucha. Then he noticed Alain, and their eyes met. X’s jaw dropped, and then he looked at Lysandre. Back and forth. Alain looked down. “Fucking Arceus, Alain. What’s going on here?” It hurt. It hurt so, so much. He wanted to break X out of there, to save him, to do  _ something,  _ but he was just useless and should just go die because maybe the world would be better off without him-

“Hello, X,” Lysandre said smoothly. X turned to him, eyes wide. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lysandre cut him off. “Forgive me for your… regrettably rough treatment.” Alain bit his lip. “However, I can’t release you, or your Pokemon.” Fucking _damnit._ Why was this all so messed up? Why did Lysandre have to kidnap one of his only friends, and why did he have him suspended hundreds of feet in the air, watching as he destroyed the entire capital? He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand where he’d gone wrong, and he didn’t understand why Lysandre was suddenly like this. He didn’t understand a single thing, and he hated how useless he was- “You see, you may be one of the chosen ones,” Lysandre continued. His voice was so even, so calm. So level. As if there was nothing wrong with that entire sentence. _Yeah right. That’s messed up as hell._ _What does he mean, ‘chosen ones?’_

“What the fuck do you mean?” X spat. He turned to Alain. He kept his gaze fixed on the ground, fists clenched. He didn’t need to see the look in X’s eyes, he didn’t want to- “Alain, what the hell is wrong with you?” He flinched. Damnit, he knew he’d screwed up. He knew that, he didn’t need X to tell him.

_ ‘I’m sorry,’  _ he wanted to say. He wanted to. But his throat went dry, and the words never came. He was so, so useless like that. He couldn’t even tell his best friend that he was sorry. He opened his mouth, just to try again-

Then there was a cry, and a blinding green flash. Something shot into the air, and green tendrils came pouring in from all directions. It was glowing, surrounded in an emerald cocoon, with a hexagonal pattern. The shape circled, spinning around the tower. Slowly, it shifted, growing taller, and longer. Lysandre was positively grinning at this point, yet Alain couldn’t tear his gaze away. The glow got brighter and brighter, and then it burst away. The only thing that remained was a green Zygarde. Alain’s jaw dropped.  _ Z-1  _ was all that ran through his head when he heard X gasp, saying something about Squishy being Zygarde. He saw Lysandre smile, and he saw the red Zygarde staring at its opponent, eyes flashing once. Then Z-1 was charging up a Dragon Pulse, pulling it’s head back. It didn’t hesitate. Immediately, it fired.

There was an explosion, white smoke erupting into the air. A moment later, both Zygarde were on the ground. Z-1 shot forward, smashing the red one into the wall. It got back up, immediately. It stuck back, and Z-1 countered. Again. Back and forth. They attacked, vines swooping through the air and colliding. 

“Squishy… is Zygarde?” X said again, as if he hadn’t understood the first time. Alain forced himself to look at him. 

“Yes. Zygarde is the legendary Pokemon, who watches over the Kalos Region. It punishes those who dare to disrupt its order.” Lysandre gestured to the apocalypse of a city below them, and Alain looked away. “What you’re witnessing now is the rage of Zygarde, along with Team Flare. This world will start over again!” Start over? What the hell did Lysandre mean,  _ start over?  _ “Soon, the other Zygarde will come around to our way of thinking. Then, it will turn red with rage!” He sounded so, so triumphant. As if he’d already won. But… he had. He had, hadn’t he? Alain couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t protect Mairin, he couldn’t protect X, he couldn’t even-

“You’re wrong!” X spat. “Squishy would never think like that!” His voice cracked, as if every word hurt to say. Alain flinched. “Alain!” He looked up at the sound of his name. “Alain, what the hell is going on here? Say  _ something,  _ goddamnit!” His throat went dry, and he ducked his head down. Damnit. Fucking damnit, Lysandre, destroying the entire world and he was too weak and useless to even  _ speak.  _ What else could he get wrong?

“Alain, this is all thanks to you.” He froze. “Mega Evolution energy gives us power - the power to control Zygarde.” His jaw went slack, and he staggered backwards. Once. What the fuck did he mean, the Mega Evolution energy-

_ Astrid, Siebold, Malva. All 10 of those trainers. Remo, Korrina.  _ Each and every battle flashed in his mind, in nothing more than a blink of an eye.  _ Goddamnit, how many people have I fought- _

“The Mega Evolution energy  _ you  _ gathered is proving to be quite useful in destroying this imperfect world,” Lysandre said. The words hit him straight in the heart, just like a bullet.  _ “The Mega Evolution energy you gathered is proving to be quite useful in destroying this imperfect world.”  _ They rang through his head, once. Then again. Then three times. Then all he could hear was Mairin screaming, Mairin screaming at him because Chespie’s accident had been  _ his  _ fault just like  _ everything else _ -

_I failed everyone._ _I failed Mairin, I failed X, and I-_ He stopped thinking. Everything shut down. Then he was falling.

Alain screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so. i’m not okay. chapters 4 and 6 are pure, pure pain. if you couldn’t tell from the timestamp at the start – this is what happens from alain’s POV during (and a little bit past) the events of chapter 2, after they split up from Y and the rest of the group. but everything basically just gets… worse. there’s literally no other way to put it :P but i hope you enjoyed anyways, and are looking forwards to the dumpload of pain to come? and alain deserves so much better?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X watches as Alain breaks, and then learns what, exactly, Lysandre wants with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> x and alain have an amazing friendship. even if they keep going on with their "rival" shit, we all know they're the bestest buds ever :P

_ X POV, 8:19 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

“The Mega Evolution energy  _ you  _ gathered is proving to be quite useful in destroying this imperfect world,” Lysandre said. X barely understood what that meant, or what he was saying. Unfortunately, Alain clearly did. He visibly froze, and X stared. Lysandre continued. “Just look… There is no tomorrow for this world.” X’s jaw dropped, and he looked out at the city. It was covered in huge brown vines, red trees springing out of the ground. Buildings were smashed right through the center, cars flipped onto their sides. He was staring, too busy staring. Then Alain screamed, the sound piercing right through X’s heart like an arrow. His stomach flipped, and then he was watching as Alain dropped to the ground, slamming his fists into the steel of Prism Tower. He tried not to flinch, and he tried not to look at the sickening grin on Lysandre’s face. It was so, so messed up-

“...is this what I had all those battles for??” He only caught the tail end of Alain’s scream, and it broke him. Then there was a crack, and Alain smashed his fist into the ground again. X looked down. “Mairin. Chespie.” X froze. “I want to say I’m sorry, but I probably don’t even have the right to-” His voice cracked. X flinched, and he heard as Alain choked on something that sounded suspiciously like a sob. Then he screamed again, throat growing raw. Suddenly, X got it. 

_ “You see, Chespie’s been asleep for a very long time. It won’t wake up.”  _ Mairin’s words echoed through his head - once, and then again. He let them sink in.  _ And that’s…  _

“That’s why Alain did all of this,” X said to nobody but himself. “That’s why he…” His voice trailed off, and he just hung there, suspended in the air. He stared at Alain, hating the way he kept slamming his fists into the ground with absolutely no care for his own safety at all, and then stared at Lysandre, wondering what he’d done to Alain and how he could be so, so messed up-

“For Chespie’s sake. For Mairin’s sake, too. Your wish had pure intent.” Lysandre stared out at the fallen city, and then turned to Alain. “A truly noble wish indeed.” His eyes narrowed, and X couldn’t help but flinch. Alain didn’t move, and neither did X. He just tried to think, and figure out what the hell Lysandre wanted with him. He wasn’t anything special, except for the fact that he was the Champion-

“And what the hell do you want with  _ me? _ ” X spat, breaking the silence. Alain’s fists stopped. X tried once more to rip his arms free of his restraints, but he failed. 

“ _ You _ , X? Well, I’m going to use your ‘Bond Phenomenon’-” Lysandre spat the last two words as if they were poison. “-in service of my new world.” X froze. His mind went blank, and he recoiled. What did he mean, for his new world? “You see, you’re able to achieve an incredible strength with your Greninja, even without a Keystone, purely through your bond! When I saw that, I was  _ thrilled _ .” Chills ran up X’s spine. Lysandre’s smirk just grew larger and larger. “X, you have shown me there are limitless possibilities with Pokemon still.” Two small drones flew through air, buzzing and humming to hover by Lysandre’s head. He clasped a brown device onto his arm, and two wing-like shapes burst out of the sides. “And I want that power for myself!” Then, before he knew it, they were on him. Both drones shot forward a red and black beam, surrounding both he and Grenousso. Faintly, he heard Alain gasp, and then everything froze over. His eyelids began to droop, and he could barely think. What was Lysandre…

“The energy in this light is powerful enough to control Zygarde,” Lysandre said. X had no reaction. Lysandre’s words turned to barely any more than mumbles. “And now, X?” One eye opened at the sound of his name. “Now, Greninja?” Oh. He was wide awake at Grenousso’s. “I’m going to use it to control  _ your  _ Bond Phenomenon.” X’s eyes widened, and he forced them open against the power of whatever Lysandre was using on him. Control…  _ me?  _

“You-” His voice cut off, and he saw the black creeping in on the edges of his vision. He forced himself to look Lysandre in the eye, gathering up all the anger he could muster. “You can’t!” He sputtered. X felt ashamed. He’d put everything into it, and that was all he could say? He was supposed to be strong, he was the  _ Champion- _

Lysandre just shook his head and smiled at him, and X forced himself to glare at him. 

“From now on, Champion? You answer to  _ me. _ ” Then the energy started burning. X felt like everything was on fire, and that he wanted nothing more than to just shut down, to let himself fall. There were dots on the edge of his vision, and he could barely make out Grenousso below him. And he couldn’t help it. He screamed. He had to fight it, he couldn’t just give up and give in, not now-

He heard his Pokemon calling out to him, but their voices just grew fainter and fainter. He could barely hear anything, and he just kept screaming. His eyelids were drooping again, and even with them open, all he could see was red red  _ red- _

“X!” His eyes flew open. For just a moment, he caught a glimpse of the setting sun and orange sky. Then he looked down at Alain, whose eyes shone with nothing but pure pain. He just stared at him in near bewilderment, as to why Alain would try and call after  _ him- _ “X, snap out of it!”  _ I can’t,  _ he thought immediately. He couldn’t. His eyes shut closed again, and he felt his mind growing blank. If this pain could control Zygarde, then how could he expect to break out of it- “Lysandre, you have to stop this!” Alain screamed. X forced himself to look down, just through the sliver of light he could see. He stared blankly at Grenousso beneath him, the Greninja completely silent and unmoving. Then X used every last bit of the strength he had and screamed, one last time.

Grenousso’s eyes flew open. He heard Alain gasp, and X shot his head up, fixing his eyes straight ahead. He heard Grenousso’s heart, and he heard his own. They began to beat faster, blood pumping. 

“There’s no way you’re ever going to control the two of us!” He screamed. He strained against his bonds again, ignoring the burning pain of the energy coursing through him. “You never, ever will!” His throat ran dry, and he saw a brief flash of surprise flash over Lysandre’s face. But he did nothing but smile again, shrugging.

“X, it seems you still do not understand. When the current world becomes a thing of the

past - when I have finished my work here, turning it into the exquisite, beautiful masterpiece I desire - you two will become the chosen ones who will guide all of humanity, and the whole world,” Lysandre said. X stared at him.  _ “When the current world becomes a thing of the past…”  _

“You really think we’ll ever become any of that?” He spat. He stretched higher, taller. He felt his heart racing, and Grenousso’s alongside it. “Grenousso and I will fight for this world. We will never, ever fight for you, or what you’ve done!” His voice rose, and then he turned to Alain, taking a deep breath. “Alain, I don’t know what happened to you. But I don’t care about what you’ve done, or the mistakes you have made - I believe! I believe in you, and in the Alain I know!” Alain stared at him, lips parting in a slight gasp. “This our only chance to save this world - don’t you see that? And I’m not just going to stand here and do  _ nothing.  _ I will defend this world, and the people and the Pokemon that call this world home - and you will  _ never  _ take it from them!” He screamed, and then there was a single raindrop that echoed through his mind, body, and soul. Their heartbeats merged, and a torrent of water shot into the air. “ _ Battle me, Lysandre! _ ” He roared. He screamed again, and so did Grenousso. Then they were one, and their restraints shattered into an exploding flurry of silver and red. The whirlpool surrounded them in a cyclone of shimmering aquamarine, and then it shot into the air, tightening into a spiral that settled on Grenousso’s back. The Greninja landed on the ground, a four-pointed star taking shape on his shoulders, as he heard Alain gasp. Then X was falling, landing on his feet at Grenousso’s side. They stood perfectly as one, with no barriers between them. They had one mind, one heart. They were strong, they were brave, they were going to fight-

“X!” Alain caught him just before he fell, feet shaky. Damnit. Why did he still feel so tired? He bit his lip, and then let himself relax for just a moment. He breathed in and out, slowly, in an attempt to slow his racing heart. “X, are you okay?” He nodded. He just needed a moment, a moment to think about what the hell had just happened.

“I’m fine. Thanks, Alain.” He forced himself to stand, even if a bit shakily. Then he looked at Lysandre. Team Flare’s leader did nothing but grin. 

“Truly brilliant!” He exclaimed. X recoiled sharply, and staggered. He almost fell again, head spinning, before Alain steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. He leaned against him, just slightly, trying to breathe. What was so  _ brilliant  _ about him escaping mind control? “Even Mega Evolution energy can’t stop your bond!” There was a nearly insane glee in Lysandre’s voice, and X looked down. 

“X, thank you.” Alain’s voice cracked, and X stared at him. “For what you said back there. I…” He paused, and took a shaky breath. “I’m sorry that I didn’t do anything to help you. I hope I can make it up to you... right now.” X forced a smile, and nodded.  _ ‘It’s okay,’  _ he wanted to say. But that took energy, and X had almost no energy. He just kept breathing, in and out, feeling himself slowly regain control. “Kestrel, use Steel Wing to free the rest of X’s team!” Alain tossed a Pokeball into the air, and X watched as the Unfezant broke the bonds of the rest of his Pokemon. They all fell down to stand behind him, and he turned to face Lysandre. Besides him, Alain released his entire team - a huge Metagross and Tyranitar, followed by a Bisharp and Weavile. The Unfezant hovered in the air above him, and then Alain drew out Kuro’s Pokeball. He took a deep breath, and then followed X’s gaze and met Lysandre in the eye. 

“And you actually want to battle? Do you really think you can defeat me?” Team Flare’s leader said coldly - incredulously, almost. He X’s gaze evenly, and X just glared at him. 

“We have to, and we will,” Alain spat. “We’ll prove to you that protecting somebody takes real strength!” X’s eyes widened at the newfound anger in his tone. He turned to stare at him, and saw the fire crackling in his ice blue eyes. He’d never seen Alain that angry before. X wanted to say that there was something else in the meaning of Alain’s words, but he couldn’t quite be sure. Lysandre just stared at him, and then narrowed his eyes. 

“Alain, you’ve really disappointed me.” His friend stiffened, even if just for a moment. X clenched his jaw. “None of you will be needed in our new world,” Lysandre spat. X glared at him, and then spoke. 

“Needed or not needed - who are you to make that judgement?” He demanded. He clenched his fists, and Grenousso wordlessly stepped forwards besides him. Alain tightened his grip on Kuro’s Pokeball, and his Keystone flashed once in the light of the scarlet sunset. Lysandre stared at the two of them, and then clasped a silver contraption around his head. 

“I see. I have no choice, then.” Out of seemingly nowhere, a jetpack floated to land on Lysandre’s back. From across Prism Tower, he held out one arm, brandishing the brown device on it. “You will be stopped, and I will do it myself!” Then he sent six Pokeballs of varying types spiraling through the air, releasing his entire team. 

A huge, red shiny Gyarados appeared in the center, flanked by a Pyroar, Aegislash, and Mienshao. A Honchkrow hovered above it all, alongside a Crobat, and X cursed to himself. He should have expected a challenge, or at least a full team, but still. He readied himself, and opened his mouth to give the first command-

“Lysandre! The other Zygarde is now under our control!” A voice boomed. X froze. The other Zygarde…  _ Squishy. They have him. That’s… so stupid! That’s all so fucking stupid!  _ He felt his blood begin to boil again. Now what? He couldn’t do anything. Lysandre needed to be defeated, Alain needed him, and they needed to fight. Maybe Y could get in there, maybe she could save him-

“X. Focus.” Alain’s voice broke him from his thoughts, and he turned to stare at him. “Your friends will help Squishy. He’ll be fine. We- We don’t have the time for that. We have a battle to win.” Then, finally he sent Kuro’s Pokeball spiraling through the air. The Charizard appeared with a mighty roar, landing in front of Alain at Grenousso’s side. Both teams stepped forwards, and Lysandre’s Gyarados roared back in return. “Kuro-” Alain raised his left wrist, his Keystone flashing. “Kuro,  _ tear him apart. _ ”

Then the light spread everywhere, the tendrils from the Keystone meeting those from Kuro’s Mega Stone right in the middle. The Charizard shifted, wings growing larger as spikes erupted across its neck and shoulders. He roared, and the light disappeared in a flash as Kuro flared his wings out to the side. X looked at Alain, and for a moment, he could have sworn his eyes flashed a blazing, electric blue.

Then, in suit, Elec and Luke stepped forwards wordlessly. They both looked X in the eye expectantly, and he froze. The Manectricite on Elec’s ankle flashed yellow, while the Lucarionite on Luke’s armband shone a blazing crimson. He looked at his Pokemon, and then back at Lysandre. He didn’t miss the Keystone on his left wrist, or the Gyaradosite around his partner’s neck. And from his back pocket, he pulled out Y’s Mega Ring. 

_ “Hold on to this for me, ‘k? I’m not going to need it for now, and I don’t want it to get stolen. Maybe you can do something with it during your ceremony, or whatever? Just take good care of it!”  _ He remembered her words from just a few hours ago. He hadn’t seen reason in it then - why would she give it to him? For some sort of demonstration? It had seemed borderline stupid, but now… 

He slipped it onto his right wrist, and held out both arms, crossing them in front of him. In one swift motion, he pressed one finger to each Keystone. Both exploded with light, and he heard Alain gasp. 

“Elec! Luke! Beyond the reaches of evolution! Mega Evolve!” The words flew out of his mouth before he could even think about what he was doing. Because it had been nothing more than a theory - one of Trevor’s, not that he was surprised. There was a rule - one Keystone, one Trainer, one Pokemon. You Mega Evolved once per battle, that was all. Then Trevor had said that maybe, well… maybe two Keystones meant two Pokemon. Three for three, four for four. On and on and on. It had been neat, X had thought. Maybe he’d try it one day. Just an experiment, in front of his friends. Not… then. Not on the top of Prism Tower, not for the entire world. And somehow… it worked. Elec and Luke both let out a defiant cry, and shifted into their Mega Evolved forms. Alain gaped at him, about to speak, but X just shook his head.  _ ‘No time,’  _ he wanted to say. Instead he just looked at him, meeting his eyes once, and then his entire team surged forwards. 

“Water Shuriken, Thunder, and Aura Sphere! High Jump Kick, Psyshock, Flare Blitz! Let’s go!” X screamed. Besides him, Kuro launched a Flamethrower, backed up by a flurry of attacks. Alain was there, matching him step for step. And no matter what Lysandre did, X knew this was the one battle he could never, ever afford to lose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah. yes. the pokespe references :P ~~sorry i really had to~~
> 
> also, like... i love this scene in the anime, when ash breaks out of mind control and all that. it's pretty fucking awesome. had to write it. i hope i made it epic enough, but honestly, i've never written anything this dramatic or whatever before, so... i'm trying haha. also like - _“Kuro, tear him apart.”_ that line. that ONE FUCKING LINE. i’ve actually been saving it, but i love it here. i love the impact. alain, for the first time, doesn’t use his whole speech thing. he just tells kuro to rip lysandre to shreds. and honestly, i don’t blame him. but anyways i'll shut up now before i just fangirl over alain, bc pokemon xyz finally came to pokemon tv and that's literally all i've been doing every single day. yeah, i'm like that :P 
> 
> so anyways shutting up now haha, but i hope you guys enjoyed! comments and kudos much appreciated if you did <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y realizes that for maybe just this once, she has to believe in her friends and their strength. Because it's time for her to let go and fly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imagine writing a 4.5k chapter when you were trying to stick to around 3k and only covering half of what you had planned to. oops.

_ Y POV, 8:05 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

Y watched in disbelief as Squishy launched itself at the red Zygarde, slamming it into the wall. Vines swept through the air, and Squishy fired off another Dragon Pulse. The other Zygarde countered, again, and then shot forwards. They both blazed through the air, streaks of green and red outlined against the scarlet sunset. But Y forced herself to look away - to focus, to think. To tell herself that Squishy would be okay, and that of course he’d win. She had her own job - beat these stupid Team Flare girls. In front of her, Ahri, Nightingale, Velvet, Queen, and Gale all fanned out in a linear formation, three of them hovering in the air, wings beating. The opposing Liepard and Druddigon were panting, and Y clenched her fists. Just a little longer, probably. Once she knocked those two out, they’d be free to get into Prism Tower. Behind her, Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna stood with their Pokemon, who crept up to stand at Y’s side. She was thankful, of course, but she knew she couldn’t rely on them too much. She was better off not relying on anyone. 

“Let’s finish them, everyone. Moonblast and Dazzling Gleam, Velvet and Ahri!” Y ordered. The Delphox and Sylveon both leapt forwards, as Ahri emitted a blinding flash. Velvet followed up with a swirling pink orb, while the Liepard leapt up, dodging both attacks. The Druddigon was not as lucky, and flew backwards, smashing into the wall of Prism Tower. But it got up, just like it had dozens of times - Y had to give it to them. Villains or not, they’d trained their Pokemon well. It was infuriating. “Queen, use Bug Buzz! Gale, finish them off with Flame Charge!” She pressed. “Shauna, can you-”

“I gotcha! Flora, use Razor Leaf!” Okay, it was admittedly not the best move choice. But Y could work with that. 

“Thank you! Nightingale, use Hurricane!” She yelled. Her Noivern shot into the air, and then sent a swirling column of air blazing forwards. It met Shauna’s Razor Leaf in the middle, and they became a whirlwind combination of air and petals. Both the Liepard and Druddigon were hit, unable to dodge both the combination and the attacks from the rest of Y’s team. She didn’t even have to speak before Trevor and Tierno were moving, too. 

“Neptune, use Hydro Pump!” 

“Vulcan, hit ‘em with a Flamethrower!”

The Charizard and Blastoise both leapt forwards, Vulcan shooting into the air. A stream of fire and water flew through the air, and Druddigon and Liepard leapt back just in time to dodge it. They were covered in scratches, and Y could have sworn the Liepard was limping a bit. Good, they were getting so close-

“Druddigon, use Dark Pulse!” Aliana countered. The Druddigon flew into the air, and a purple beam shot forwards. Y cursed under her breath. How was it still so, so fast-

“Sahara, use Dragon Claw!” Ah. Y knew that voice. She ducked just in time, and a Mega Garchomp shot through the air, narrowly missing her head. It drew back its claws, shining green, and blocked the Dark Pulse easily. It erupted into smoke, and Y let out a breath of relief. The Garchomp landed in front of her, and roared. 

“Thanks, Professor,” Y said, without a single glance behind her. She heard one of the Team Flare scientists curse under her breath, and then turned around. “That was too close for-” She stared. “Mairin? What are you doing here?” She asked, trying to hide the surprise rising in her voice. 

“What?” Bryony questioned. “I thought-” 

“That little brat,” Aliana spat. Y glared at them, and then Aliana shrugged. “Well, whatever. Guess we just take them out too. Let’s go, Druddigon! Use Dragon Claw!” 

“Liepard, Shadow Claw!” Y opened her mouth to speak, but Tierno moved first. 

“Neptune, use Skull Bash!” He commanded. Y’s eyes widened, surprised. She’d never  _ seen  _ her friends like this. Above her, Vulcan shot forwards, and it struck with a Dragon Claw. 

“Vulcan, keep going! Use Flamethrower!” Trevor yelled. 

“Flora, stand by for Solar Beam!” And there was a fire in their eyes that Y had only ever seen from X, and maybe Alain. Maybe it was them really being willing to fight for their world, or maybe it was some newfound courage at Y definitely  _ hadn’t  _ stumbled across herself. She opened her mouth to make a move herself, and then stopped. 

“Y, have you seen X or Alain yet?” Mairin asked, tugging on Y’s sleeve. She looked down at the younger girl, and almost recoiled at the look of pure fear in her eyes. She looked away, immediately. 

“No, I haven’t. I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. She really was sorry. She hated not being able to help. She forced herself to look back at Mairin, and then felt a sharp pang in her chest at the tears welling up in the other girl’s eyes. “Mairin…” She clasped her hand in her own, and smiled at her. “I’m sure they’re fine. They’re both really, really strong, aren’t they?” She hoped she sounded positive. She was trying, and she-

“Not that,” Mairin said shakily. “I’m just-” She choked, and Y looked away slightly. Mairin was crying now, and she couldn’t do  _ anything-  _ “I’m still so worried about Chespie.” Y froze. 

_ “You see, Chespie’s been asleep for a very long time. It won’t wake up.”  _ Mairin’s words ran through her head, once.  _ “But it’s okay! He’s being treated at Lysandre Labs right now - they’re awesome!”  _ And  _ damnit _ . She’d sounded so, so hopeful, only to realize today and they weren’t any of what she thought-

“Hey. I’m sure Chespie’s doing great, okay? He’ll recover soon, and-” She stopped, and then bit her lip. She wasn’t helping, she knew, watching as Mairin just didn’t stop crying- 

She took a deep breath, and looked over at Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor. They kept fighting, Flora launching a full power Solar Beam through the air. And then Y was returning her entire team, clipping their Pokeballs back onto her belt, and then she smiled. 

“Chespie’s at Lysandre Labs, isn’t he?” Mairin stared up at her, and then nodded. Y looked to Shauna. 

“Shauna, can you three hold things down for a while? Try and get into Prism Tower, and either find X or see if you can free that Zygarde from their control, somehow. I refuse to believe it would do  _ this  _ of its own accord,” Y said. Shauna turned back to her, and then nodded. She smiled. 

“Of course! You can count on us!” Y nodded. She could. She knew she could. She had to believe in her friends, and that they’d be able to pull this all off if they just worked together. She grabbed Mairin’s hand, and did probably the last thing she should have done. 

“We’ll get Chespie back. I promise.” Mairin’s eyes widened. The voice in Y’s head kept telling her to not make promises she wouldn’t be able to keep. But she did it anyway. Then she swallowed, took a deep breath, and they ran. 

-

“Right there, it’s that way!” Mairin pointed, leaning forwards. The Professor piloted the helicopter shakily in that direction, a large gray building in sight. His flying skills were… mediocre at best, and Y couldn’t help but feel a little bit queasy. Instead, she just tugged at her Sky Trainer wingsuit, making sure it was all tight and secure. She wasn’t sure she liked this backup plan, and she knew nobody else would either, if she would dare to mention it. But it was like a safety net, almost. In case they failed the first time. Which was… admittedly rather likely. The helicopter was picking up speed, growing closer to the lab. Y didn’t breathe, and ran her hand over all six of the Pokeballs on her waist. She looked out the window, as they grew closer and closer to the ground. Then she froze, breath catching, and everything spiraled out of control. 

“Watch out!” Was all Y had the time to scream, before the Weavile on the ground sent an Ice Shard flying through the air. The helicopter flew sideways, and Y winced. She heard Mairin cry out, and then she was scrambling forwards, yanking open the door without a second thought. She yanked out Ahri’s Pokeball, and tossed it into the air. “Use Mystical Fire!” She yelled. The Delphox drew its stick forwards, and shot a beam of fire to cancel out the Weavile’s attack. The moves collided in an explosion, and then there was another one. 

“Frost Breath!” She could hear the screams of the Team Flare scientist back on the ground, and the Weavile sent a stream of freezing air spiraling up towards them. Ahri countered, again, and Y cursed under her breath. This wasn’t working. There was no way they could get in without getting any closer, and this was clearly too risky-

Well. Plan B it was, then. They exchanged a few more blows, and Y shook her head. Ahri fired off one last Mystical Fire, and then Y was slamming the door shut, sliding it closed as fast as she could. She returned Ahri to the Pokeball in her hand, and tucked it back alongside the rest. Then she was leaning on the door for support as the helicopter shot higher into the air to dodge another attack, and took a deep breath. 

“Professor, take us around to the back!” She yelled. He turned to stare at her in surprise. She looked down. 

“Y, what do you-”

“Just trust me. I need you to take me around to the back, and I know I can get in. Then you just need to stall until I can take out that Team Flare girl from behind, and then we can grab Chespie and go.” She forced a certain sense of calmness into her tone, and took a couple more deep breaths. She tried to recall if she’d ever jumped from this high before - it was likely they could get any lower without being spotted, and they couldn’t risk that at all. She peered out the window again, and almost laughed to herself. What the hell was she thinking? All it took was one attack, one shot. If she was hit, or any part of her wingsuit, then… 

_ Well, then we’ll see how fast I can call out Nightingale, or I die here. How funny.  _ She sighed, and tried to ignore the way her hands were shaking in her lap. Maybe she should let out her Noivern, just in case- 

_ You can’t do that, Y. They’ll spot you for sure,  _ she reminded herself.  _ You already went over this. There are no safety nets here.  _ She bit her lip and the helicopter stopped, hovering in the air. She took another deep breath, and stared out the window. They were directly behind the building now, and she could easily make out an emergency door that shouldn’t be too hard to reach. She would be fine. She just had to remember, and not panic.

“Y, what’s going on?” Mairin asked fearfully. Y looked down, and then back out the window, standing up. She gripped the handle of the door with one hand, and then turned back to Mairin. She forced a weak smile. 

“You and the Professor stall by the front of the building. Don’t let that Weavile hit you - do you think you can do that?” Her voice shook, and she cursed at herself. She had to be brave, and strong. For Mairin, if for nobody else. The younger girl nodded hesitantly. 

“I think so,” she said. Y just smiled, nodded, and then sighed. Her palms were sweating as she tightened her grip on the door’s handle. Then she slid it open, looked down, and smiled. If nothing else, at least the sky was clear. And she loved the feeling of just  _ flying _ . 

“Well, wish me luck then.” And then Y spread her wings, took a deep breath, and jumped. 

She swore she heard Mairin and Professor Sycamore screaming after her, but then their voices faded into nothingness. She fell, ponytail whipping behind her. She fell, and she stopped breathing. She was falling, faster than she ever had. She just focused - on keeping her wings out, and even on both sides. Going with the drift and the light breeze, instead of against it. She tilted her arms slightly, angling herself forwards and towards the door. It was fine, it was fine-

And somehow, before she knew it, she was on the ground. She landed, steadily and safely. She let out a huge breath of relief, and then grinned. She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream, exclaim to the entire world that she’d just done  _ that-  _

But she couldn’t. Y didn’t have time to lose like that. Instead, she yanked Ahri’s Pokeball off of her waist, before pressing the button in silence. The Delphox appeared in front of her, and then they approached the door. There was a keypad - for security, of course. She placed her hand on the door, confirming the cold, hard metal. Wordlessly, she nodded at Ahri, who drew out her stick in front of her. She lit a small flame, and then traced a circle through the middle of the door, burning it down. The metal in the center fell to the ground, and Y smiled. She returned Ahri silently, and then crept through the door. 

The alarms started immediately. Y knew she should have expected it, but somehow, she didn’t. They were blaring, red lights flashing all throughout the hallway. She had what - maybe ten seconds, before the entire security came after her? She ran, one hand on Ahri’s Pokeball and the other on Solace’s. She ran faster, and then faster and faster. She didn’t know where she was going - she just kept running, as quickly as she could, in the direction of the entrance. She just had to sneak up on that girl with the Weavile, take her out, and then Mairin could-

“Stop right there!” Ah. There they were. One of the four scientists, this time with purple hair, stood with her Drapion. Y cursed, loudly, watching as at least five grunts crept forwards, each with a Pokeball in their hand. Her name was… Celosia, if Y remembered correctly. 

“Let me through,” she spat. She tried not to show the way she was shaking, as she pulled Ahri’s Pokeball off of her waist. “How close am I to the front entrance?” She demanded. Celosia just laughed at her, and each of the grunts released a Houndoom. Y glared at her. 

“The front entrance is currently on fire. I do not recommend you head in that direction,” Celosia answered smoothly. She laughed,  _ again.  _ Y clenched her fists. “Was that your doing?” Her eyes widened. Her doing? Well, she’d probably aimed at least one Mystical Fire, so…

In all honesty, it probably wasn’t her. That Weavile had countered nearly every one of her attacks. But she could definitely go with it. 

“Probably,” Y lied, shrugging. She tossed Ahri’s Pokeball into the air. “Want me to set fire to you all too?” She asked. Her Delphox appeared at her side, and as if on cue, charged up a Mystical Fire. Celosia stared at her in near disbelief. 

“You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. I’m not even sure how you got in here.” Oh. That was good. Team Flare didn't expect girls to come dive bombing in out of helicopters. “But unfortunately, I don’t think you can take on all of us yourself. Drapion, use Pin Missile!” Y cursed to herself, as Celosia’s Drapion sent green spikes flying through the air. She ducked to dodge them, and Ahri countered with the Mystical Fire she’d been charging up. She yanked Solace’s Pokeball off of her belt, and tossed it into the air. 

“Solace, Night Slash! Ahri, Mystical Fire!” She found herself drifting backwards, as her Pokemon launched attack after attack at the enemy. But they were clearly outnumbered 5 to 1, and the close quarters probably meant letting out Nightingale or Queen would do nothing but hinder them. She heard Solace scream, the Absol flying backwards. He skid backwards, claws dragging across the ground, and Y cursed again. The Absol stood shakily, reeling from being hit by a Cross Poison, and Y turned back to Celosia. 

“Is that all you’ve got?” The Team Flare scientist mocked, her Drapion with barely a scratch on him. Y glared at her. “Not so brave without your boyfriend behind you, huh?” She froze. Celosia’s words rang through her head, and then settled. “Unfortunately, he’s busy with Lysandre-”

“Leave X out of this!” Y spat. “Ahri, send them flying with Psychic!” Fucking Celosia. She knew  _ exactly  _ how to get under her skin, but she couldn’t let her. Ahri’s eyes shone blue, and then she sent Celosia, Drapion, and the admins flying across the hallway. The Houndoom stood, unaffected, and Y threw a Pokeball into the air. “Queen, use Sleep Powder!” Her Vivillon appeared in a flash, and sent a pale green powder sprinkling through the air. The Houndoom stared at her, eyes blank. Then they all collapsed, fast asleep, and Y couldn’t help but grin in surprise. That had actually… worked? She stepped over their motionless bodies, and then approached Celosia, who was scrambling to her feet. “I hope you realize I could have my Pokemon kill you, right here and now. If you dare talk about X like that again, I very well might,” she snapped. “Or you could tell me which way to the front entrance, and I’ll leave you here, unharmed. Your choice.” Celosia stared at her, and then backed up slightly. Y just glared at her, and Solace snarled at her side. 

“Take the next left, and then a right by Lab 3B. Then two more lefts at 2E and 2N,” Celosia said finally. Her eyes narrowed, but Y didn’t flinch. “But Mabel will be waiting for you, I swear on it-”

“Well that’s good to know. Queen, use Sleep Powder,” Y interrupted calmly, forcing herself to sound exasperated. To be fair, she  _ was  _ pretty done with Celosia’s bullshit. The scientist’s eyes widened, and then drooped. The entire room fell silent, and then they all dropped to the ground. Y sighed. Then she kept walking. 

The hallways were dead silent, except for the click of her heels on the floor. She recalled her entire team to allow her to move faster, and took her second to last left at the lab labelled 2E. She wasn’t sure whether to believe Celosia’s instructions or not, but it was better than nothing. Maybe her death threat had been a  _ little  _ extreme, but she had to get info somehow, right? She didn’t like how quiet it was. It was… dead, almost. Then there was a crash. Y flinched. She heard somebody scream, and then she was running again. Fuck. That was  _ definitely  _ Mairin. What had happened to laying quiet outside, at least until she could-

“Sahara!” Shit. Where had her entire plan gone to absolute-

She froze, and her jaw dropped. There had to be at least ten grunts now, and all Mairin and the Professor had to fight with was a Garchomp. Fuck. That was not good, that was not-

“Y!” Mairin exclaimed. Professor Sycamore looked up, and the entire army of grunts whipped around. Y stepped backwards. 

“Mairin, what happened to-”

“Y, maybe not the time?” The Professor interrupted grimly. “We have… an issue.” Y looked over the rows of grunts, all armed with at least one Pokemon each. She stared for a moment, and then shrugged. 

“Not really. I can deal with them, and you go grab Chespie, okay?” Okay, maybe her confidence levels were a  _ little  _ high after beating Celosia like that. But she had six Pokemon. She probably had just the space to fight properly, now that she wasn’t in the tight hallways by the back exit. She wasn’t terribly outnumbered, exactly. And she just had to hold them off until they got Chespie out of there, not necessarily  _ beat  _ them.

“Right!” Mairin nodded, and she ran through the lines of grunts without a moment of hesitation. Y’s eyes widened, and the Professor followed, not even flinching, returning his Garchomp as he went. 

“Thank you,” he muttered. Then they were gone, rounding a corner, and Y turned back to the problem at hand. 

“No problem.” He wouldn’t hear her, Y knew that. Instead, she tossed out all six of her Pokeballs, and didn’t hold back. 

“Ahri, use Mystical Fire! Velvet use Moonblast, and Nightingale use Hurricane! Queen, get as many of them down with Sleep Powder as you can, and Solace, cover with her Dark Pulse! Gale, get in there with Flame Charge!” Her entire team surged forwards, and everything erupted into smoke. One of the grunts had a Manectric, who struck back with a Thunderbolt, while a Dark Pulse came from a Houndour. There were Sludge Bombs and Air Slashes, and Y leapt to the side, pressing herself back up against the wall to avoid getting hit herself. She could barely see, but she heard the screams and cries of both her team and the grunts’, and flinched. Damnit. That wasn’t good, at all. She hoped Mairin got Chespie quickly, so that-

“Nightingale!” Y screamed. Her Noivern flew backwards, smashing into one wall. The dragon shook himself and snarled, climbing back up to his feet as the smoke cleared. Y’s team were panting, crouching defensively, as Queen and Gale flapped their wings to hover in the air. At least three of the opposing Pokemon were asleep, which was a good start, at least. She took a deep breath, and then kept fighting. “Everybody, again! Take ‘em all down!” She yelled. Her throat burned from screaming, but her team nodded, launching attack after attack forwards again. She saw Velvet’s Moonblast hit a Honchkrow, and Ahri’s Mystical Fire hit the Manectric. A couple of Golbat collapsed, falling asleep, while Gale shot through the crowd, shrouded in a blazing fire. Nightingale shot out with Hurricane again, and Solace raced after Gale, horn drawn back into a Night Slash. For a moment, Y regretted giving X her Keystone, but he probably needed it more than she did. Based on what Celosia had said, he was up against Lysandre, and if he could Mega Evolve both Luke and Elec, then…

“They really don’t let up, do they?” She muttered to herself, watching as her team drew back once more. There were at least seven Pokemon still standing, teeth and claws drawn. “Queen, use-”

“Y! We got Chespie!” Mairin yelled, running up from behind her. Y whipped around, and then nodded, forcing herself to breathe. The Chespin shone with an odd green aura, still and unmoving in Mairin’s arms. For some reason, it sent chills down her spine. She didn’t like it, and turned back to the battle. 

“Great. Now we just have to get out of here, somehow-” 

“Use Psychic.” Y froze, and slowly, all eleven of the Team Flare grunts were suspended in the air, shining blue. On the ground, their Pokemon looked around, confused. Y took her chance. 

“Sleep Powder, quickly!” She followed up. Queen fluttered through the air, sprinkling a pale green powder down on the enemies. They all collapsed, falling to the ground, completely asleep. Y let out a sigh of relief, and then looked up. Her jaw dropped. 

“Holy shit.” She stared for a moment, and then returned all of her Pokemon except for Ahri back to their Pokeballs. “Holy shit. You guys realize that’s Steven, right?” She turned around, and then Mairin burst out laughing. Behind her, she heard Steven chuckle, and then Y turned back to stare at him. 

“I’d watch your language around Mairin, Yvonne,” he said. She froze, and then just stared again. Steven just shrugged. “I’m friends with Alain and Mairin, and you’re dating a Champion. Don’t act so surprised.” Okay, he had a point. He had a very, very good point. But still, he just-

“It’s Y,” she blurted.  _ Damnit. First thing you say, and it’s that you’re Y and not Yvonne? Just because you prefer a nickname?  _ She cursed at herself, and then took a deep breath. “Ugh, I’m sorry. I go by Y,” she started again. She looked at Steven, and then looked down. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but I am. And I’m also taking a totally wild guess considering how unsurprised Mairin is to see you that you’re the one who got them in here and in turn both set fire to the front entrance and ruined my extremely carefully well thought through plan. But thank you for helping.” She let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding, and then turned around, pretending she hadn’t just said whatever mess she had. “But okay. Anyways. Let’s get out of here,” she said decisively. “Except… the entrance is on fire. Which way do we go again?” Mairin just stared at her, and then down at Chespie in her arms, tightening her grip. Then she burst out laughing  _ again,  _ which was both great because at least she wasn’t crying but Arceus why was it so funny to her-

“Yes, Titan set fire to the entrance with a Meteor Mash. I sincerely apologize for ruining your plan, but from what I understand, it absolutely  _ terrified  _ the Professor because you just leapt out a helicopter without so much of a warning. And we should go out the back, but I need to check something first. Does that answer your questions, Y?” He stepped forwards so that they were side by side, each facing a different direction, and Y swallowed before nodding. Why was she was so, so fucking good at making a fool of herself-

“I’m sorry. I gotcha. What do you need to check?” She saw Steven stiffen, for just a moment, but then he kept walking. 

“The Giant Rock,” was all he said. Right. As if Y was supposed to understand what  _ that  _ meant-

“Good idea,” Professor Sycamore agreed. Ugh. Why did  _ everybody  _ seem to understand what was going on, except for her? She just sighed, and then turned to follow them. The Professor was talking in hushed whispers with Hoenn’s Champion, and Y turned to Mairin. The girl just tightened her hold on her Chespin, and didn’t speak. Y smiled at her. They were in the clear now, she wanted to say. X would deal with Lysandre. Shauna would take out the mind control machine. They had rescued Chespie. Everything was looking up, and they would save the world. They could. They were all doing the best they could, and it  _ had  _ to be enough. For the first time in nearly an hour, Y felt  _ hopeful.  _

And then, of course, it all turned to hell ten minutes later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is sky diving from a helicopter scarier than battling 700 feet in the air like she did in the pokespe canon? i feel like it would be. because if you're just like... hovering there, you can kinda just chill, but if you're jumping you gotta be focused the entire time and i have a feeling there are even more ways for that to go wrong. so yeah. idk, this chapter is just me disregarding canon so i can make y the badass that she is :P hope you enjoyed! :P


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X and Alain continue their battle against Lysandre. It goes wrong in the one way nobody expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “6. i’m really mean i’m sorry” is what her document says. is she sorry, though?
> 
> **Warning: Contains character death and assumed/faked suicide**

_ Alain POV, 8:38 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

“Pyroli, return!” Alain swore under his breath. This was not going as well as he would have hoped. Lysandre was outnumbered, he had figured. 12 to 6. Their odds were good. X was the Champion, and he was… Well, Alain was Alain. No matter what Lysandre had said, he knew that all of this training hadn’t gone to complete waste. Yet at the same time, Lysandre was far stronger than he ever could have expected. X had lost three - his Hawlucha, Flareon, and Meowstic. Alain still had Kuro, Gojira, Hero, Akuto, and Lance - but Lysandre’s Mega Gyarados packed a mean Waterfall that could take out Gojira in just one more hit, and the second Akuro or Lance took a High Jump Kick from that Mienshao, they were done for. The crowded space on top of the tower made it hard for Hero to do more than take Toxics from the Crobat to preserve the rest of Alain’s team, and even Kuro couldn’t last forever. Ideally, they wrapped this up, and quickly. He couldn’t lose - not here, not now. 

“Is that all, X? You’d think with that fancy title of yours, you’d be able to do more than that,” Lysandre mocked. Alain flinched, but X was unfazed, both Mega Rings glistening on his wrists. 

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he spat. “Elec and Luke, Wild Charge and Aura Sphere! Grenousso, follow up with Water Shuriken!” Alain took that as a sign that he should keep fighting, too. He met Kuro in the eye, and the dragon nodded, before his entire team shot forwards. 

“Lance, Thunder Wave on the Gyarados! Akuto, Night Slash, and clear the way for Gojira’s Stone Edge! Hero, watch their backs for Toxic, and Kuro, sweep them down with Flamethrower!” Alain hadn’t commanded this many Pokemon before. He’d also never battled 900 feet above the ground, or for the sake of the entire world. He was trying not to overthink it, and definitely not the fact that is was  _ his  _ fault-

“Waterfall, Sacred Sword, and Flamethrower!” Lysandre ordered. A huge column of water shot into the air, and Alain heard a scream that sounded suspiciously like Akuto. Kuro’s Flamethrower met Pyroar’s, but the Charizard roared louder, the blue flames growing hotter and hotter. They enveloped the orange into nothingness, and sent the Pyroar flying. Blue stones erupted out of the ground, the rest of Alain’s team leaping to the side just in time. One hit the Crobat, which screamed as much as a Crobat could. However, Lysandre’s Aegislash countered immediately, sweeping through the crowd and slicing through everything with a Sacred Sword. Alain cursed under his breath. That could be it for Lance, Gojira,  _ and  _ Akuto, if he wasn’t careful-

“Hero, Meteor Mash, quickly!” He yelled. He had to keep thinking, watching as Hero shot through the crowd, shining blue. He didn’t know if he hit any of Lysandre’s Pokemon, but it would have to do. 

“Alain, get them all out-” X started.

“Gotcha! Now, everybody! Get back!” He yelled. He gave X a nod, as five Pokemon came flipping backwards to land in front of Alain. Hero, Lance, and Kuro were all still standing, but he saw Gojira and Akuto’s unmoving forms beneath the smoke. Grenousso and Luke skidded backwards too, and Alain made out the yellow flash of X’s Manectric in the chaos of the battlefield, just before it let out an echoing roar. 

“Elec, use Thunder!” X screamed. The smoke cleared for just a second, and then the lightning came. A huge gray storm cloud appeared in a flash over the tower, and a huge ray of thunder and lightning came echoing down. Lysandre’s Gyarados screamed, while the Aegislash slid into Shield Form just in time, blocking itself. The Crobat wasn’t so lucky, and crumpled to the ground, while the Pyroar and Mienshao just dropped to the ground, silently, but fought on. Alain’s eyes widened. That was one  _ crazy  _ Thunder-

“Aegislash, Sacred Sword! Gyarados, use Stone Edge!” Lysandre commanded. Then the Aegislash was sliding back into Blade Form and shooting forwards, while the Stone Edge sent Elec flying before anybody had time to react. Alain heard X curse to himself, as the Manectric landed shakily on the ground, wincing. 

“Hero, counter Aegislash!” Alain yelled. Hero leapt forwards, taking the Sacred Sword with a wince. It dealt neutral damage, but that was the best Alain had to work with. “Akuto, Gojira, return.” He held out two Pokeballs, returning the motionless forms of his Weavile and Tyranitar before clipping them back onto his belt. He didn’t have any Revives on him, which meant he only had three Pokemon left to wrap this all up. Great. “Kuro, follow up with Blast Burn!” But he didn’t have time to rest, or to breathe. He had to keep going. The Charizard shot into the air, before slamming a fist into the ground. Alain remembered just an hour earlier - the Blast Burn he’d dealt Grenousso. Something had happened, and he wasn’t sure what. He just remembered feeling like he was on  _ fire,  _ and he felt like he was-

“Grenousso, Night Slash on the Aegislash! Elec and Luke, Ice Fang and Power Up Punch on the Gyarados and Mienshao!” X yelled. Right. _ Not the time, Alain. Not the time. Just keep fighting, keep fighting because you can’t lose ever, ever again- _

“Gyarados, use Dragon Tail!” Then the Blast Burn hit, sending Aegislash and Mienshao flying into the air. Luke and Grenousso leapt after them, hitting them both with a Night Slash and Power Up Punch, while Elec slammed into the Gyarados, gripping its tail with his jaws. He froze it over, biting through the green scales with a crunching noise. Alain flinched, and was pretty sure he saw it draw blood before slamming the Gyarados back into the ground. He took that as his chance. 

“Lance, use Guillotine-”

“King’s Shield!” Lysandre interrupted. Alain cursed, again, as Lance shot forwards with his arms drawn back, only to be stopped by another shield put up by the Aegislash. It protected all three of Lysandre’s remaining Pokemon, the Mienshao laying motionless a few feet away. That was good, at least. But Lance’s Guillotine bounced harmlessly off of the barrier, sending him flying backwards. He skid across the steel of the tower, standing with blades drawn in front of Kuro and Hero, before flashing in a blue aura, attack falling. Alain swore to himself. He had to be more careful of-

“Pyroar and Gyarados, use Flamethrower and Stone Edge!” 

“Grenousso, smash the Stone Edge with Night Slash! Luke, use Flash Cannon!” But Lysandre just didn’t let up. Thankfully, X countered both attacks quickly, and the Greninja shot forwards, smashing through the Stone Edge. It ducked to dodge the Flamethrower, which met the Flash Cannon in the middle. They exploded into smoke, until just a moment later. Then the cloud was gone, the Flamethrower still blazing. Alain froze. 

“Kuro, use-” He panicked. Then the Flamethrower was upon them, washing over his entire team. The heat was blazing, and Alain winced. When the scarlet cleared, Hero crumpled to the ground, Lance shielded behind his huge form. Damnit. His fault. If only he’d thought faster-

“Dragon Tail!” Lysandre ordered. Then his Gyarados was in the air, tail covered in green scales. It came crashing down in a matter of seconds, and Alain stopped thinking. 

“Kuro, block it with Dragon Claw!” He yelled. Quickly, he returned Hero with a muttered thank you. “Hold it there for Lance! Use Guillo-”

“King’s Shield!” Lance shot forwards, again. Kuro caught the Gyarados neatly, clenching its tail with his claws. It was all fine, until that stupid Aegislash shot in front of Lance’s attack again, blocking it with its shield.  _ Again.  _

“Damnit,” Alain muttered. “Lance, use-” The Bisharp shone blue, signaling another attack drop. Gyarados escaped Kuro’s grip, flipping back through the air with a roar, while Aegislash floated protectively in front of it. He forced himself to think. He usually fought better when he just let go, and let the commands come flying out of his mouth without a second thought. But maybe they needed a strategy, outside of his typical Thunder Wave-Guillotine combination-

“Lance, Thunder Wave on the Aegislash, quickly! X, take it out!” There it was. Everything clicked as Lance shot his arms out in front of him, sending a crackling electric net towards Lysandre’s Aegislash. It couldn’t defend itself fast enough, and spasmed in the air, jerking back and forth. Paralysis check. Now, as long as X-

“Grenousso, use Night Slash!” And  _ that  _ was why X was the only person Alain considered a rival. He blinked, once, and then Grenousso was on the other end, arms drawn back and shining purple. The Aegislash floated for a second, unmoving, before crumpling to the ground, unconscious. A slight smile kept up onto the corners of his face, but it didn’t last for long. 

“Lance, hit Gyarados with a Guillotine-”

“Dodge it!” Lysandre ordered. Alain cursed again as Lance shot right past the Gyarados, narrowly missing. “Now use Incinerate!” Then the Gyarados was behind him, head thrown back and before roaring, sending a fireball spiraling through the air. It sent Lance flying, and Alain froze. Then his Bisharp was falling, faster and faster. It screamed. Alain raced forwards, and so did Kuro. Then it fell silent. 

“Lance!” Alain screamed. No reply. His blood ran cold. “Lancelot, are you-” His throat went dry, and he climbed on his knees to the edge of the Prism Tower. “Lance!” His throat burned from screaming. Still nothing. Lance was gone. There was no way his Bisharp could have survived that fall. Alain just stared, hoping, but he couldn’t see a thing down there. He was silent, for another moment. Fuck. Fuck, he just-

He choked.  _ Arceus. Oh my fucking Arceus, I just-  _ A single tear splashed onto the back of his hand. Alain drew it into a fist, and slammed it into the steel. He screamed. It burned, from where he’d probably fractured something earlier. For a long moment, nobody spoke, and nobody moved. Damnit. He was so, so fucking  _ stupid.  _ He could have done  _ anything.  _ He should have forgot about Guillotining that stupid Gyarados, he should have sent Kuro after him. Maybe  _ he  _ should have jumped after Lancelot, and then-

“Alain,” X said softly, breaking the silence. “Alain, are you okay?” He didn’t reply, and swallowed. He inhaled, and let it out. Took another deep breath. Then he cracked.

“What the fuck, Lysandre?” Alain screamed. “You just-” His voice cracked, and he found himself shaking. Damnit. Fucking damnit. Lance was really-

Kuro was at his side before he fell, the dragon growling quietly to his trainer, and nudging him slightly. Alain forced himself to stand, steadying himself on Kuro’s shoulder. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to focus. He wasn’t okay. He’d known that, ever since Lysandre had first explained that this whole mess had been his fault. But for the first time, Alain knew. He forced himself to look up to meet Lysandre in the eye, and he knew. This man was evil, through and through. He was destroying the world, and everybody in it. Lance was dead. He had to accept that. And Arceus, it hurt so, so much to know that he’d just lost one of his best friends to  _ him- _

“Alain. Alain, breathe. It’s okay.” He felt X’s hand on his shoulder, and he forced himself not to flinch. He kept breathing, trying to stop shaking. “Alain, look at me.” He didn’t. “I’m so, so, sorry-”

“Don’t talk to me right now,” he choked, voice cracking. X looked down, and Alain forced himself to stand on his own. Kuro snarled, standing defensively in front of him as they walked, away from the edge. He stopped, standing across the tower from Lysandre, and kicked the ground once. He swallowed, forcing himself not to cry, because goddamnit he couldn’t cry  _ now- _

“Lysandre, I will  _ murder  _ you,” he spat, forcing his fear back down his throat. He looked up, meeting Team Flare’s leader right in the eye. He knew how close he was to crying, but he didn’t even care. “And if I fail, then I’m sure X will follow up for me.” As if on cue, Grenousso, Elec, and Luke all stepped forwards, flanking Kuro on both sides. He heard X come up on his left, and he purposely looked down to the right. “Kuro.” He swallowed, hard. Then he looked back up, and his eyes flashed fiery blue. “Finish it, now. Use Blast Burn.”

Fire shot through his veins as Kuro roared, and the tower engulfed into blazing blue flames. There was an eruption below him, and heat shot up out of the ground. He heard Lysandre’s Pyroar scream, and the Gyarados roared in pain. Lysandre’s face remained blank, and both Pokemon staggered, once. 

“Night Slash.” X’s voice was barely more than a whisper, and it cracked. Then Grenousso was on them, slicing right past both of them, arms drawn into blades. They crumpled to the ground, unconscious. And Alain just stared. 

Gyarados flashed once, and then reverted back to his normal form. Besides them, Grenousso, Elec, Luke, and Kuro did too.  _ We won,  _ Alain wanted to say. But it didn’t feel like they’d  _ won.  _ None of this felt right. It didn’t feel right, knowing that Lance was gone. It didn’t feel right, knowing he’d failed,  _ again.  _

“It’s all over, Lysandre!” X snapped. Alain barely heard him. He just forced himself to look up, to look brave. To not cry. Lysandre stared at him through his scarlet visor, as he returned both Gyarados and Pyroar without a word. Then he smirked, and took three steps back. Alain froze. 

“You can’t stop me,  _ Champion, _ ” Lysandre said smoothly. Another three steps. Another moment of lost breath. Alain didn’t move. He felt like he couldn’t, like everything was going numb- “No matter what you try, you can never extinguish my dream,” Lysandre swore. Then he was there. One more step, and he would-

“And I am still committed to recreating this world!” And then Lysandre fell, backwards. Silently. X shot forwards, and his Greninja stretched out its tongue. Too late. Then Lysandre was gone, as X screamed after him. Alain’s throat went completely dry. Lysandre - Lysandre, who’d tricked them  _ all _ \- had fallen. Lance was gone. He’d failed Mairin, he’d failed everyone. He’d failed the entire world. 

And then, finally, Alain let himself cry.

-

“So let me get this straight. Y ran off to Lysandre Labs with Mairin and Professor Sycamore. You three took down three Team Flare scientists _by yourselves_. Then you blew up their mind control machine, freed _both_ Zygarde, and Shauna’s now letting them sleep in her purse. And Y _still_ hasn’t called?” X clarified. Alain stared at the ground. A few feet away, Shauna nodded. 

“Basically! And you haven’t heard from her either?” X shook his head. Alain clenched his jaw, trying not to let himself think. He knew that if he let himself even think for half a second, he’d drown in  _ everything _ . Lance was gone, he’d failed Mairin. Lysandre had committed suicide. The rest of Team Flare was gone, for all he knew. Arceus, and that had just  _ happened- _

“We should probably get going, then. To Lysandre Labs.” Alain stiffened at the sound of X’s voice. Lysandre Labs. To find Mairin. Of course, just so that he could tell her that everything he’d done had been for  _ nothing- _

“Okay!” Shauna piped. Arceus, why were they so  _ happy?  _ It was stupid. So fucking stupid. How could they just keep going, as if nothing was wrong? As if he wasn’t just standing there, trying not to just give up and drown, and trying not to let himself just break and crash into a million tiny pieces? He wanted to. He felt like he should, because he didn’t deserve to still be here, when Lance had been nothing but  _ perfect _ . He’d done everything right. He’d done so, so much for him. And at the same time, he’d still fucking  _ died.  _ It wasn’t fair. None of it was  _ fair _ . Alain just wanted to give up, to cry, to scream, to go back and change it all-

“Alain?” He looked up, meeting X’s eyes. All four of the friends stood, staring at him. “We’re going to Lysandre Labs. To find Mairin.” He stiffened at the sound of her name. “You can…” X shifted nervously. Alain had never seen X  _ nervous  _ before. “You can stay behind, if you want. Just get some rest. I know… I know you’ve been through some stuff today,” X said. Alain looked down. X was too nice for his own good. He could let Alain go, and let him off the hook, just like that? He’d lost Lance, he knew. But that didn’t make up for what he’d done. 

“X, what do you mean? What… happened?” Trevor asked quietly. “And Mairin probably wants to see Alain, since they’re-”

“She doesn’t,” Alain snapped. His voice cracked, and he cursed to himself. He sounded the opposite of okay. “Mairin won’t want to see me after all of this.” He looked down, but caught the way X’s eyes softened. He didn’t want his sympathy. 

“Alain, you know that isn’t true,” X said softly. “It’s not your fault. Lysandre was messed up in the head, and he used you. Nothing is your fault, because-”

“It all is!” He spat. X flinched, and Alain forced himself to breathe. Instead, the air came in gasps, and he forced himself not to shake. “It’s my fault, X. Don’t try and pretend it isn’t. I collected the energy. I failed my best friend in the whole world. I failed the only family I’ve ever had. I-” He stopped, trying to ignore the tears pricking on the very edges of his eyes. “I failed my team. I failed Lance.” He hated saying his name. He felt like he didn’t even deserve to. It was his fault he was gone. “I failed them, X, and I can’t bring him back, no matter what I-” His voice cracked. He stopped, and leaned against the cold metal of Prism Tower, trying to breathe. “You were there. You know what happened. I could have stopped it. If I had just said anything -  _ anything  _ else, except for-” He choked, and then he couldn’t talk anymore. He just turned away, placing his arms above him and leaning against the tower, trying to breathe. In, and out. He couldn’t cry. Behind him, X was completely silent. He heard somebody shuffle their feet, slightly. “I hate this, X. I hate knowing that Lance is  _ gone,  _ and it’s all my fault-” 

X’s Holocaster rang. Alain froze, and then he took a deep breath. 

“Hold on,” X muttered. Alain kept taking deep breaths. It was okay. It was all going to be okay. They’d stopped Lysandre. They’d find some other way to save Chespie. Mairin was okay, she was safe. Y would have taken care of her. The Professor was with them. They were all safe, it was all over-

“Y!” X exclaimed. “Y, are you all okay?” Alain froze.  _ Y. Mairin. Professor. Fuck, they can’t see me like this-  _

“X, we have an emergency,” Y said from the other end. Alain’s blood ran cold. Fuck. Emergency. Damnit, because it could just be getting worse and worse. “We-” Y paused, and took a deep breath. “We had Chespie. Professor Sycamore and Steven wanted to check what kind of research they were conducting on the Megalith.” Alain stiffened. The Megalith? Steven? What the hell was  _ Steven  _ doing here? He forced himself to breathe, and to keep listening. “Then-” Y’s voice cracked. “It  _ absorbed  _ Chespie, X.” Alain froze, his arms dropped to his sides, and he saw X’s jaw drop. 

“It absorbed… Chespie?” Alain croaked. X turned to stare at him, and Alain looked down. He blinked, once, and then forced himself to stand at X’s side. He could make out Y’s face on the Holocaster, and…

“Alain!” Mairin’s voice pierced right through his chest. He recoiled, and looked down. “Alain, I’m-” She stopped. “I’m scared,” she said quietly. Alain froze. He breathed, in and out. Shut his eyes, just for a moment.  _ I’m sorry,  _ he wanted to say. The words never came. X looked at him, and just shook his head, slightly. 

“Mairin, we’re on our way. We’ll get Chespie back, okay?” X promised, turning back to the hologram. Alain couldn’t bring himself to look up. It was one thing to hear her voice, and an entire separate one to look her in the eye. “We finished off Lysandre. Are you guys at the lab?” He asked. 

“No,” a voice sounded.  _ The Professor,  _ Alain realized immediately. He backed up, slightly. He took another deep breath. “The Megalith is on the move somewhere - I’m sending you our coordinates now, get here as quickly as you can!” Professor Sycamore said. X nodded. 

“Right. Of course. I…” His voice drifted off, and Alain caught X looking at him. He forced himself to look back up, and at the Holocaster. He met Mairin’s gaze, and then looked away, staring at Y instead. Damnit. It was too hard. He inhaled and then exhaled, deeply. 

“Mairin. We’ll save Chespie, I swear,” Alain said. He forced himself to sound strong. For Mairin, even if for nobody else. She needed him. “It’s going to be okay.” He wasn’t even sure if he believed that himself, but he said it anyways. Mairin nodded once. He tried to force a smile. 

“X, we’re going to keep tracking it. Get here as quickly as you can, but stay safe, okay?” Y asked. X nodded. 

“Right. We’ll be on our way. You-” He paused. “Be careful, Y,” he said softly. Y nodded. Then the hologram was gone, the Holocaster sounding with a beep. X took a deep breath, and then pocketed it. “I’m destroying that thing the moment this is all over,” he muttered. Alain couldn’t blame him. He’d probably - he’d  _ definitely  _ \- smash his to pieces. Anything that reminded him of Lysandre would probably have to go, including…

He gripped his left wrist tightly, Keystone cold under his palm.  _ Anything and everything,  _ he swore. 

“Are you okay, Alain?” Then he looked up, and met X in the eye. He nodded. 

“Yeah. Let’s go.” 

And whether it was true or not, Alain knew he would have to keep fighting. He had to be okay, for Mairin. For Chespie. For the entire world, and for anybody who he’d ever hurt. His job wasn’t done just yet. And maybe, one day, he’d be able to make up for everything he’d done. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alain deals with the aftermath of Lance's death, and finally cracks. X has to keep his head up, and fight on.

_ X POV, 9:06 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

X was worried about Alain. Or actually, scratch that - he was really, really worried. Before that day, he’d never seen more emotion out of him than a slight smile. In the past two hours, he’d seen him scream, cry, and curse at Lysandre more times than he could count. But he couldn’t blame him - he’d seen Lance fall. He’d felt the way his heart nearly stopped in his chest as the Bisharp flew over the edge, and he knew that by the time he’d moved, it was too late. Then Alain had been screaming,  _ again,  _ and X couldn’t understand how everything just kept getting worse and worse for him. He wanted to help, but… he admittedly didn’t know how. Instead, he just turned to his friends, and tried to lead them like Y always did. They had to get to the Megalith, and quickly. 

“Between the five of us, we have three fliers,” X said, thinking out loud. “Kuro’s probably too tired to carry anybody other than just Alain, which leaves Vulcan and Tera to carry two each. Trevor, do you think they can do that?” Trevor nodded, and pulled two Pokeballs off of his waist. 

“They’ll have to,” he said. “X, you and I-” He paused. “Alain, what are you looking at?” He asked. X whipped around. Alain stared blankly at a media copter, which was lowering itself to the ground. Alain didn’t move. 

“Alain, it’s just a media copter. Let’s go,” X said firmly. Immediately, he regretted it. He had to be nicer to him, goddamnit-

“That’s not a media copter, X,” Alain said blankly. X hated how empty his friend’s voice sounded. He hated how he suddenly seemed to believe that there was nothing to fight for anymore, and that nothing mattered- “That’s Malva.” Then Alain’s voice turned to absolute poison as he stalked forwards, and X recoiled. What was  _ up  _ with him? The only Malva he knew was Elite Four Malva-

“Alain, there you are!” The helicopter landed on the ground, and the door swung open. Malva - definitely Elite Four Malva, too - sat in the front seat, one hand on the driving stick. “Let’s get going.” X stared at her, and at Alain. His friend didn’t move, and just clenched Kuro’s Pokeball tighter. 

“I betrayed him, Malva. Lysandre’s dead,” Alain said. X’s jaw went slack. Malva was here for Alain, which only meant… 

“You’re Team Flare,” X spat. He stalked forwards, standing protectively at Alain’s side. “You’re with Lysandre, you did all of  _ this- _ ”

“I  _ was, _ ” Malva interrupted. “Yes, I was with Team Flare. Yes, I fucked up. We all did. But what do you mean, Lysandre’s  _ dead? _ ” Her eyes narrowed, and Alain looked down. He didn’t reply, and X stepped forwards again, swallowing. 

“He jumped. Off the top of Prism Tower.” The words sounded heavy, and they didn’t seem to settle right. Lysandre had fallen, of course. He couldn’t have survived. Not if Lance couldn’t. “We tried to stop him, but we couldn’t. I swear,” X promised. They had. At least, Grenousso had. They’d been too late. But a dead Lysandre was better than an alive Lysandre, right? 

“I see.” Malva’s voice was calm and flat, but X heard the slight hint of pain in her tone. He looked down. Should they have tried harder? “Well, I’ve rounded up all of Team Flare that we could find in the city. You need a ride to the Megalith, don’t you?” She asked. X froze. 

“How do you know about that?” He snapped. Malva stared at him, and then shrugged. 

“Connections,” was all she said. X narrowed his eyes. But then he looked at Trevor, and the two Pokeballs in his hands, and the open door of the helicopter. He sighed. 

“Yeah, we do.” The main door slid open, and X turned around to face the rest of his friends. “Let’s go, everybody.” They nodded, and all scurried into the helicopter. Alain didn’t move for a moment, and then followed them. X went last, and paused as he passed Malva. “Don’t try anything,” he muttered. She snorted, and then turned back to the front of the helicopter. She didn’t reply. X climbed into the helicopter, sliding the door shut behind him. He sat next to Alain, and tried to breathe. 

It was okay. Y was okay. They were on their way to the Megalith, and they’d free Chespie. They’d destroy it. The world would be safe, everything would go back to normal-

_ Not for all of us.  _ He looked at Alain, and at the empty Ultra Ball he was rocking back and forth in his right hand. He flinched, and looked down. Arceus, he felt  _ horrible _ -

“Incoming call from Steven Stone,” Malva reported. They were flying high above Lumiose City, and X forced himself not to look down. He didn’t want to see what had happened to the city. Instead, he just nodded, and a screen appeared on one side of the helicopter. 

“Okay,” X said. Slowly, the image flickered into view. He made out the faces of both Steven and the Professor, along with Y and Mairin in the back. They  _ looked  _ okay-

“All right, everybody. While you’re on your way here, let me tell you what we know about the Megalith,” Steven started. X snorted to himself. Trust Steven to be the one to give a report on a magical rock. He nodded. “When we scanned it, we discovered it’s actually a giant mass of energy. A mass of energy that strongly resembles Zygarde’s,” Steven explained. X stiffened. Zygarde?  _ I thought we were done with Zygarde.  _ “In addition, we were able to pick up Chespie’s vital signs from within its core, along with his records located in the lab’s database.” Alain gripped Lance’s Ultra Ball tighter. X looked down. “It turns out that an accident caused Chespie to absorb some of Zygarde’s energy - that’s why he’s been in a coma for such a long time. It seems like the Megalith absorbed Chespie to obtain that energy in the first place.” X’s head began to spin. He nodded, trying to process everything that Steven was saying. Chespie had Zygarde’s energy via an accident. The rock had Zygarde’s energy via Chespie. But still, it didn’t make sense-

“Now,” Professor Sycamore started. “The Megalith is on the hunt for its next energy source.” The screen changed from a hologram to a map. On one end was a blinking red dot, a line drew straight from it to the other end.  _ To Anistar City.  _ “The Sundial, in Anistar City.” He was right. 

“Anistar City?” Alain asked numbly. X winced. 

“Right. The Sundial is a rock that supposedly came from space - it contains a lot of the energy that is released by Pokemon when they undergo Mega Evolution, actually. We think the Megalith wants to gain access to that energy too,” the Professor continued. X stared back at the hologram, and tried to meet Y’s eyes through the screen. She just stared at him, fidgeting nervously. He looked down. 

“But… why?” Trevor asked. Nobody spoke for a moment. Then he heard Steven sigh, and X knew.  _ Bad news.  _

“If the Megalith and the Sundial come in contact, they will then merge as a result. And if that happens-” Steven took another deep breath. “It’ll create such a huge burst that it will likely wipe out every living being on this planet.” X froze.  _ Excuse me? Wipe out… every living being on this- _

_ Arceus. Steven means the world could actually end. We could all die. Not just Lance, not just Lysandre, but all of us- _

“Fucking Lysandre!” Alain screamed. He threw Lance’s empty Ultra Ball to the ground as hard as he could. It clattered on the steel floors, and X winced. Everybody turned to stare at him. “He said he’d recreate this world at any cost. He means-” Alain choked, and X looked down, trying to pretend he hadn’t just seen him crying all over again. 

“We won’t let that happen,” he swore trying to remain calm. He turned back to the hologram, where almost everybody was staring at Alain with nothing but absolute horror in their eyes. He couldn’t blame them. “Professor! We have to rescue Chespie, and stop the Megalith, even if we die trying,” he spat. From the back of the hologram, he saw Y stare at him, and then she smiled. X looked down, and then smiled back. 

“We’ll be there,” Steven said firmly. He stared at the screen for a moment, and then leaned back slightly, voice dropping. “X. I don’t know what happened on the top of Prism Tower-”  _ Everything.  _ “-but are you and Alain all right? Do you need anything?” He asked. X looked away, watching the way Alain’s fists were shaking, and Lance’s empty Ultra Ball still discarded on the ground. Alain wasn’t okay. He needed his partner back. But that wasn’t something Steven - or anybody, for that matter - could fix. They had to start small. What did…  _ What do I need, right about now?  _ X looked back up at the screen. 

“We’ll be all right.” He only hoped that was true. “As for me…” His hands went to his belt. “Probably three Revives, and a few Max Potions, for my team. That’s all, at least for now.” Steven nodded at him. X turned to Alain. Then he froze, and swore to himself. He shouldn’t have said that. 

“Alain?” Steven pressed. The trainer in question didn’t reply for a moment, and X watched as he took a couple deep breaths. He looked down and away. 

“I-” His voice cracked. “Just a Max Potion, please. For Kuro. And-” The helicopter turned, and Lance’s empty Ultra Ball rolled and clattered against the wall. “Four revives. For the rest of them.” X couldn’t help but wince. He knew that had to have hurt so, so much for Alain to say. He forced himself to look up at the screen, and slowly, an understanding crossed Steven’s face. 

“Alain, I’m so sorry,” he said quietly. Alain didn’t look up. “I can get you two those items when we’re back together again, okay?” X nodded numbly. He had to, because he knew Alain wouldn’t. 

“Thanks,” X said. Steven just nodded sadly, and then it was the Professor’s face in the center. He just stared for a moment, and then spoke. 

“Alain, I know Steven already said this. And I know you aren’t looking at me right now,” he started. “But I’m so sorry. That’s-” He paused. “It’s terrible. I wish there was something we could do. I’m sorry, and I hope you-”

“And I don’t want your pity!” Alain choked out. X looked down, when the Professor winced. “ _ Pity  _ doesn’t bring Lance back.  _ Pity  _ doesn’t change the fact that it was  _ my  _ fault, or that I  _ failed  _ him-” His voice caught on what X could only assume was a sob, and Lance’s Ultra Ball clattered to land against Alain’s boot. It was silent for a moment, sparring Alain’s crying. But again, X couldn’t blame him. Losing any one of his teammates would shatter him completely. And Alain didn’t even have the time to grieve, or to heal, because it was all back to saving the world all over again. In the end, it just wasn’t  _ fair- _

“Alain?” Mairin sounded afraid. X hated that. She was too young for all of this - too young to watch their world end, too young to lose her Chespin to Lysandre’s greed. “What do you mean, bring Lance back?” And she didn’t even  _ understand.  _ She didn’t understand that he was gone, and gone forever. 

“I-” Alain took a deep, shaky breath. “I don’t want to have this conversation anymore. X…  _ Please _ .” For the first time, Alain looked up, meeting him in the eye. X looked away, immediately. Alain had been crying - he knew that. His eyes were red and swollen, and X knew he deserved none of it. He just nodded at him, and then looked back to the screen.  _ Please  _ meant please say something, and  _ please  _ meant turn the conversation away to anything except for him _.  _ If nothing else, X could do that. 

“We’ll save Chespie, Mairin. Okay?” He tried to sound reassuring, and pretend that he wasn’t shaken all the way to the core. Mairin nodded, eyes fearful. X looked down out of the window. They were on their way to Anistar City, for sure. Lumiose was behind them, and so were the vines. 

“Thanks, X,” Mairin said softly. He smiled at her. Then he smiled at Y - at Alain, at everybody. 

“Of course.” Then he ended the call with one swift press of a button, and prepared himself for the worst.

-

“What  _ is  _ that?” X stuttered, staring out the window. It looked like a Zygarde, almost - but it was made of stone, and moved across the ground using the crawling, brown and red vines. It had one eye, practically, made out of a vermillion crystal that matched the shape on its stomach. It reminded him of the red spot on Squishy’s belly. “Is that…”

“It’s the Megalith,” Alain said bitterly. He’d stopped crying. X was thankful for that. Together, they stood up, and wordlessly swung the helicopter door open. 

The wind blew into the copter immediately, chilling X to the bone. He tried not to shiver as he pulled Grenousso’s Pokeball off of his waist, preparing to throw it into the air. And somehow, Alain was already one step ahead of him. 

“Keystone, respond to my heart! Beyond evolution! Mega Evolve!” And then there was Kuro, diving out of the helicopter, Charizardite glowing just like Alain’s wrist. When the light cleared, revealing his jet black form, X knew. Alain’s grief wasn’t going to affect his ability to fight. Both he and Kuro were absolute beasts of rage, and they would tear Lysandre’s entire legacy apart. “Kuro, use-” Alain froze. X followed his gaze, and then swore under his breath. There was Sahara, the Mega Garchomp, tangled in the vines, screaming. He could make out Steven’s Mega Metagross flying through the air, with Y’s Sylveon, Velvet, on its back. They were aiming countless Flash Cannons and Moonblasts in all directions, but the vines kept coming-

A vine grabbed Titan by the leg. They entangled his entire frame, and then he was flipping. Over, upside down. Velvet screamed, and the Sylveon came crashing towards the ground, 200, 300 feet-

“Kuro, catch her!” Alain screamed. And the panic in Alain’s voice rattled X right to the core.  _ He’s afraid,  _ X knew.  _ He’s afraid, because he can’t bear to watch another Pokemon die like Lance did. Alain, thank you- _

Kuro roared. He shot down, faster than X had ever seen him. Then he was flying, wings tucked, right above the ground, faster and faster and faster-

Velvet fell, landing right on his back. X let out the breath caught in his throat. Then the helicopter was swooping forwards, faster and faster. And there was Y - standing in the doorway of Steven’s aircraft, both the Professor and Hoenn's Champion at her side. Kuro cut both Titan and Sahara free with a Flamethrower, and then shot back up with Velvet on his back. They flew alongside the Megalith, and X couldn’t help but smile. They were all together again. They were going to fight. He cast a glance at Alain, whose gaze was fixed with nothing but sheer, hard determination. He was fighting for Lance, he knew. X would fight for him, for the rest of his friends. For Y, and for the entire world. He had to.

“Professor, do you know Chespie’s exact location?” Trevor asked, keying up the communicator again. X stared at the Megalith as Malva piloted the helicopter to face it from the front. He stared, into the gemstone core. Besides him, he let out Grenousso, and they immediately merged. He blinked, switching views. Then he was back to his own eyes.  _ There,  _ he almost said.  _ It has to be, it has to- _

“Our scans show Chespie is located somewhere within its core!” Professor Sycamore replied. X’s eyes widened. He exchanged one look with Grenousso.  _ Exactly,  _ he said to his partner. The Greninja nodded.  _ You see it?  _

_ I see it,  _ Grenousso’s mind voice echoed. He turned to Alain. Arceus, maybe this was a terrible idea. But they had to, they had to at least  _ try.  _

“Grenousso and I can see him,” X said. Alain stared at him, eyes wide. He shook his head. There wasn’t time to explain. They didn’t have time for anything. “Professor-” He paused. That wasn't who he needed permission from. He stopped, and turned to Alain. “Alain. Have Kuro on standby, in case we-” His voice cracked. “In case he falls.” Alain stared at him, and something flashed across his face. He looked down, for just a second. At the ground, hundreds of feet below them. Then he nodded, just slightly, and X barely saw it. But that was all he needed. He waited, for just a moment longer. The rock shifted. The crystals cleared. And then…

_ Now.  _

Grenousso jumped, leaping out of the helicopter. In front of him, Kuro, Titan, and Sahara flanked him on all sides. X waited, watching. Through Grenousso’s eyes, then through his own. Back and forth, just until-

“Use Water Shuriken!” X screamed. Grenousso ripped the star off of his back, and it spiraled through the air. It flew, and lodged itself right in the crystal.  _ Perfect.  _ He fell, and then landed on Kuro’s back, right into place. X breathed. They did it. That was exactly it, that was exactly where Chespie was-

He heard Alain gasp, and X nodded. 

“He’s right there. Under the Shuriken,” X said firmly. “Everybody, head towards the Water Shuriken!” He yelled. Alain nodded back at him, and then Kuro was shooting forwards, Velvet and Grenousso perched on his back. He launched out with a Flamethrower while Grenousso leapt through the air, striking out with Aerial Aces and Night Slashes. He landed on the vines, racing forwards, Kuro behind him. A few feet back, Titan fired off repeated Flash Cannons in all directions, shredding through vines in the blink of an eye. Sahara struck out with Dragon Claws, Hyper Beams, and Dragon Pulses, swerving through the air to dodge yet another vine. They were endless, it seemed. X watched, and couldn’t help but curse to himself. They weren’t any closer than they were five, ten minutes ago, no matter how long they fought for. The Water Shuriken - and Chespie, of course - were still so, so far away. 

“This is endless,” Alain spat. “We need more Pokemon, we need more fliers. I have Kestrel, but he needs a Revive, and you have Brute. Y has a couple more too, and-” He stopped, and X could have sworn he heard Alain curse under his breath. A vine shot through the air, entangling Kuro and halting his movement completely. “Kuro!” Alain screamed. His voice was easily lost in the wind, as he swore again. Velvet toppled off of his back, only to be caught by another vine. She let out a cry, and X flinched. Grenousso was next - X knew, as he felt the air being sucked out of his lungs, squeezing him tighter and tighter. Then there went Titan and Sahara, too slow to defend themselves from the absolute onslaught. Arceus, it was  _ insane.  _

“Kuro, use-”

And then there was a blinding flash, and a giant white beam. It shot forwards, shredding through the vines and smashing the Megalith right in the core. Grenousso was falling, as were Kuro, Velvet, and the rest of the team. Titan caught Velvet, and Grenousso landed on Kuro’s back, the dragon swooping up into the air, swerving past the vines. X stared, and then turned to find where at attack came from-

“Arceus,” he breathed. There were all eight Gym Leaders, plus Diantha. They had at least one Pokemon each out already, and-

_ That’s the entire League, X, apart from the Elite Four. That’s your entire Pokemon League, and they’re under your command, because you’re the-  _

“Nice one, Champion,” Alain remarked, reading him exactly. X stared.  _ I’m not really their Champion,  _ he wanted to say, eyes landing on Diantha and her Gardevoir. But then he looked back to the Megalith - to the Sundial, blazing a brilliant scarlet, in the distance. To Y and Mairin, who he’d sworn to protect. Back to Alain. 

“Thanks,” he said. 

_ But maybe I can be.  _

And this was his chance to prove it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know it's bad when alain swears in front of mairin oop-
> 
> anyways, my favorite sentence of the entire fic was in this chapter! _“Both he and Kuro were absolute beasts of rage, and they would tear Lysandre’s entire legacy apart.”_ i love it. but yeah, anyways, i hope you enjoyed, sorry for the angst at the start but hey that’s kinda how the fic works :P see you all next time! :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alain forces himself to keep his head up and move on, to help fight for the entire world one last time.

_ Alain POV, 9:21 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

Everything felt  _ wrong.  _ It was barely a pound - just a few ounces, probably. Nothing more. But Alain was keenly and thoroughly aware of the empty spot on his waist, of Lance’s Ultra Ball left discarded in the helicopter. Because he couldn’t even bring himself to look at it anymore, and it did nothing but make him feel impossibly worse and worse. Then he’d crack, and then he’d cry, just like he had back on the helicopter. And he couldn’t be that weak anymore. Not when the whole world was going to end if he didn’t just suck it up and move on. Not when Chespie would be completely, utterly gone, and so would they all. It wasn’t about him anymore - it never would be. He had to stop pretending like it mattered. He’d lost Lance - fine, so what? He just had to move on. He had no time for pity, or for grief. Alain just had to keep fighting, keep pushing. This was his one and only chance to be a better person, and to make up for what he’d done. He couldn’t just throw it away.

“Alain…” But he couldn’t even look at her. He knew, even with his eyes fixed down on the ground, that Mairin was probably crying, or on the verge of tears, and he knew that she was relying on him to make this all right. He had to. He swallowed, and looked up. 

“It’s okay,” he lied.  _ Stupid. It’s not fine. You fucked up, and you’re saying it’s ‘fine’ because you’re trying to pretend that this wasn’t all your fault in the first place, because if you hadn’t yelled at her, then Chespie would never have gone into a coma, and he never would have had that accident with the Zygarde, and the world wouldn’t be about to literally end-  _ Alain looked down, digging his fingernails into his palm. Liar. He lied to her, he lied to himself, he lied to  _ everyone.  _ Who even was he, at this point?  _ You either die a hero, or live long enough to watch yourself become the villain.  _ He stared up at the Megalith, and ran his hand over Lance’s empty spot on his belt. Number three. At least he knew where he fell. But he forced himself to breathe, to look brave. “I swear I’ll come back, and Chespie with me,” he promised. Mairin nodded, and Alain turned away to go. 

“Thank you,” she said quietly. Alain just nodded. Walked away. Placed one hand on Kuro’s Pokeball, telling himself that if nothing else, at least he still had him. Maybe with X, and the entire League, they could take down the Megalith, and they could save them all. Save Chespie, finally. He wasn’t good at being optimistic, but he was trying his best. If nothing else, he owed them all-

He felt a tug on his sleeve, and he turned around. Mairin stared up at him for a moment, tears in her eyes, and he looked down. He hated when she cried, he hated when he couldn’t do anything about it, and he hated when it was  _ his  _ fault-

Then she just threw her arms around him, shaking, and he froze. He remembered, post-Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon. When she’d saved his life, most likely, after he’d blacked out on the ice. Back when he thought maybe they could be friends, and it would all work out in the end. Back before he’d fucked everything up, and back before he’d ruined it all. He hesitated, and then he hugged her back, trying to ignore the way she was shaking. He just breathed, in and out, trying to just stand, and to be strong, because that’s all he’d ever been to her-

“Alain. What…” She looked at him. He didn’t look at her. He just blinked, again and again. He didn’t want to cry,  _ again _ \- “What happened?” She asked quietly. He froze. “What happened to…” He didn’t even want to hear it out of her mouth, goddamnit- “...Lance?” And it  _ hurt.  _ It hurt so, so much. To know that she hadn’t even understood, to know that he’d have to say it to her right then, right now, because he couldn’t just-

He forced himself to breathe, in and out. He looked up at the sky, at nothing. Blinked to fight back tears. Loosened his arms around her shoulders, and then forced himself to look at her. Took one last deep breath. Then he said it, because he didn’t want to lie to her anymore than he already did.

“Lance is dead,” he said. And it felt so, so heavy. It just broke him into a million pieces, watching as Mairin’s face shattered completely. “Lance is-” He choked. Damnit. “Lysandre killed him. On the top of Prism Tower.” Then he was crying again, pulling Mairin in again. He didn’t want to cry, but he couldn’t even stop it. It just hurt, and it felt wrong, and he didn’t want to think about the fact that he was  _ gone- _

“I have to go.” And he couldn’t even do it anymore. He pushed her away, trying to ignore the tears on the side of his face. Two Pokeballs came off of his waist, and he pressed them into Mairin’s hands, not even looking her in the eye. “Hero and Gojira will protect you. Don’t-” His voice cracked. “Don’t lose them. Please. I can’t lose anybody else today.” Then he turned away, and he hoped she knew that she didn’t just mean his Pokemon.  _ I can’t lose you, either,  _ he wanted to say. The words never came. He just turned, then he was walking away, head down, because he didn’t want to look at her anymore. 

“Alain, I-” He stopped, for just a moment. “Okay,” she said quietly. And she was so, so afraid. But it wasn’t like Alain would be any use to her, anyways, like this. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, to Mairin but really nobody but himself. He just had to keep going. Get Chespie out of there. Then apologize, for everything he’d done and said, and then maybe he’d have a chance to make it all right again. But until then…

It all became a blur as he went completely numb, listening while X and Diantha laid out a plan. They would use the Pokemon’s moves to get into the Megalith, Steven had suggested. Alain and X were just to keep running - get Chespie out of there, and then get back. The rock would stop. It would all be okay. It all sounded so, so easy. It wouldn’t be. It never was. Lysandre never made things  _ easy.  _

“All right, everybody. Remember - rescuing Chespie is the first priority. Now head towards the Water Shuriken!” And five minutes later, everybody obeyed X without any form of question. Alain nodded, swallowing down any form of grief or regret. He just ran, faster and faster. Repeating over and over to himself that if he rescued Chespie, he could make Mairin happy. And maybe, even doing just that, would make things a little-

“Grenousso, Aerial Ace!” Okay, right. There was no time to think anymore. X’s Greninja leapt into the air, slashing through a set of vines. X jumped, without hesitation, onto the swirling mass of vines. Alain swallowed, and then followed, tossing Kuro, Akuto, and Kestrel’s Pokeballs into the air.  _ Focus,  _ he repeated to himself.  _ Focus, and just fight. Get Chespie out of there. Nothing more.  _ The Unfezeant appeared overhead first, smashing through a set of vines with Steel Wing immediately, even without a command. Akuto followed up with a Night Slash, while Kuro shot into the air, striking out with a Dragon Claw. Alain pressed one hand to his Keystone, and kept running. 

“Keystone, respond to my heart! Mega Evolve!” There was a blinding flash and a roar, and Alain took that as a sign the transformation was complete. “Use Flamethrower!” He yelled. He was right, as the blue flames shot right in front of him, burning through the vines to create a path. He kept running, dozens of footsteps behind him. 

“Fork off!” X yelled. The plan moved into motion, immediately. The Gym Leaders divided into pairs and units, swerving off to the left and right. Behind them, Alain heard Steven and Diantha ordered Psychics, swirling vines together into a neat path, towering up to where the Water Shuriken was lodged. Alain just kept running. Above him, Kuro launched Flamethrowers whenever a vine got close, while Kestrel swerved and dove through the air, striking out with Steel Wings. Akuto kept pace with Grenousso, both lashing out with repeated Night Slashes. X had his Meowstic, which covered them with Light Screen and Reflect, and his Mega Manectric tore through vines with vicious Ice Fangs before launching off a Thunder. Alain ducked, just in time, as a Flamethrower shot through the air, coming from Malva’s Houndoom. The vines disappeared, ripped and scorched to smithereens. Then there were more, as usual. Alain couldn’t even be surprised anymore.

“Now!” X screamed. Alain stepped right. Kuro shot into the air, spinning, before firing another Flamethrower.

“Moonblast!” Then, right on time, a pink orb shot through the air, clearing one set of vines. It was followed by a Psyshock from Olympia’s female Meowstic, both coming from the right. Alain looked up once, and then nodded in thanks. Then he was back on the path, trying not to flinch when he heard Valerie scream, a vine shooting through the air and sweeping her off her feet. X called after her. Alain just shut his eyes, and kept moving. He couldn’t get distracted. Not now. He looked up, at the Megalith in the distance, and pushed on.

“Kuro-” His Charizard didn’t need to be told twice. He shot in front of the group, sending off another Flamethrower. The blue fire blazed through the oncoming vines, while Grenousso backed him up with Aerial Aces and Night Slashes, spinning and slashing through three, five vines at a time. Another one came, but Alain barely flinched, watching as Korrina’s Lucario leapt down in front of them, blocking it with a Bone Rush. Then Ramos and his Gogoat were on their right, drawing two vines together with a Grass Knot to make a path. Alain tried not to look down, and not to look at the dozens of feet they were in the air. The height made his stomach churn, knowing how much a fall would cost him. But he didn’t have time to be scared of anything. Instead, he just kept running, X at his side. 

More vines shot forwards, swirling around Grenousso, and Alain swore to himself. He saw them tighten, and he saw X’s breath stop short, barely gasping. He opened his mouth to order a command from Kuro, but the words never came. Instead, Viola and her Vivillon swooped through the air, firing off a Solar Beam. Meanwhile, Grant’s Tyrantrum launched a Rock Tomb, creating a wall that scaled at least fifteen feet. It would get them to the top - to exactly where they needed to be, and where the path was at least somewhat clear to the Megalith’s core. It stopped the vines, too, and Alain thanked Grant under his breath and kept going. He barely flinched when he heard both Grant and Viola go flying through the air, caught by a vine before hitting the ground. X called after them, just like he had for the rest of their team. He was a good Champion, Alain knew. Then he turned back to the wall at hand, at the top, and kept moving.

He placed one hand on the rocks, and then the other. He climbed, trying to ignore the way his right hand burned and ached. Had he fractured it at some point earlier? He felt like he had. There was a Parabolic Charge from Clemont’s Heliolisk, bashing through the vines chasing them from behind, while Alain just kept going. He slipped, once, just a few feet from the top, but X grabbed his hand, catching him right before he fell. He thanked him, and then whistled to Kuro. The Charizard carried him the rest of the way, and then they were at the top. He paused for a single moment to catch his breath and rest his aching legs, and then he kept running. 

“Ice Shard!”

“Ice Beam!”

The first came from Wulfric’s Abomasnow, freezing over the vines coming up behind them completely. The second was Akuto, leaping into the air and firing off a cracking blue beam, doing the same for the vines in front of them. They went completely still, and Alain swerved around one. He jumped down the steep slope ahead of them, at least five feet. The Water Shuriken was lodged in the Megalith’s core, not too far away. They were close. They were getting there. They might not have had any of the Gym Leaders as backup anymore, but-

“Dark Pulse!” They had Malva, firstly. Her Houndoom leapt into the air, destroying three vines with a single purple beam. Alain  _ knew  _ she hadn’t been going all out when they’d fought, one on one. That was the kind of power he wanted to have one day.

“Dragon Claw!” And Sahara, Mega Evolved. It had taken a while to really set in. Sahara - Sahara, who he’d rescued as a Gible literal years ago, could Mega Evolve. Alain also hadn’t spoken to Professor Sycamore in years, either - that’s why he didn’t look at him when they passed one another, and that’s why he did nothing more than nod in thanks. There wasn’t time for explanations, or reunions. Sahara sliced through the vines, and then there were more on them. 

“Elec, use Ice Fang! Mystic, use Psyshock!” X yelled. They shredded through the vines, Grenousso and Kuro backing them silently, striking out with green Dragon Claws and a defensive Water Shuriken. A vine wrapped swerved around Mystic, while Kestrel sliced through it with an Air Slash, before Akuto fired off another Ice Beam. Another vine shot through the air, and Alain and X leapt to the side, dodging it. It swirled around behind them, and Alain stumbled. He whipped around, and swore under his breath. He didn’t-

“Dual Hurricanes!” Y screamed. Then the Sky Trainer was there, swooping down alongside her Noivern and Vivillon, which both launched swirling Hurricanes through the air. They shredded through the vines, and a couple extra for good measure. X whipped around. 

“Y-” He started.

“X, run!” She snapped. “Solace, let’s go!” Then she threw an Ultra Ball into the air, an Absol landing on the vine in front of them. Y landed on the ground, and held one wrist out in front of her. Her other hand went to the Keystone on her Mega Ring, and Solace roared. “Keystone, bring our souls together as one! Solace, use Shadow Claw!” The light exploded, once, and then it was gone. The Mega Absol shot into the air, wings spread, and it sliced through two vines in quick succession, spinning through the air. Alain stared for a moment, and then kept running. 

“Thanks, Y,” He called. To be fair, he owed her more than just one thanks, after what she’d done for Mairin. He’d talk to her once this was all over. 

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said grimly. Alain chose to ignore her, this time, and he kept running. Right. X was on his left again, as Elec leapt through the air, shredding through a vine with a Wild Charge. Kuro swerved beneath him, and the Mega Manectric landed on his back. Alain ran faster to keep up, trying to ignore the burning in his legs and the way his breath came in short gasps. There was no time for breaks. 

More vines came, but Kuro blew them out with a huge, blazing Flamethrower. Alain kept running, while Akuto and Mystic covered them with Light Screen and Protect, blocking five vines at once. It gave them just enough time for Kestrel to charge up and burn through all of them with a Sky Attack, and then they were off again. On either side of them, sprinting across vines of their own, were Steven and Diantha, each of their partners launching out with Flash Cannons and Moonblasts. Alain focused on the Water Shuriken ahead of him, and kept running. Then there was a roar as Sahara shot into the air, vines wrapping around her entire body. More shot out of the ground as Alain whipped around, and he swore to himself. 

“Professor!” He screamed, stopping for the first time in a long while. “Kuro, use-” 

“Keep going!” Sycamore yelled, as Malva’s Houndoom fired off another Dark Pulse above them. Another vine shot into the air, tangling itself around its legs, and it howled. 

“Just go!” Malva screamed, from where both her and the Professor were trapped behind the vines. Sahara shot out with a Dragon Pulse. It missed. Alain stared for a moment, cursing again, and then turned. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered to himself. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” Then he just kept going, forcing himself to just run and run and run, leaving them behind. Kuro fired off another Flamethrower, and Elec bit through another vine with a violent Ice Fang, freezing it over before snapping it in half. A vine shot through the air, which Grenousso quickly smashed through with Aerial Ace, backed up by Akuto’s Night Slash. Then more were coming, wrapping around Akuto, lifting the Weavile high into the air. Alain’s blood ran cold. It was high, too high, and if she-

“Kuro, break her out of there!” He screamed. The Charizard shot forwards, smashing through the vine with Dragon Claw. It split down the middle, and Akuto fell. Alain yanked out her Pokeball. “Return!” Then she was gone in a flash, right before she would have fallen to the ground. He swore to himself, tucking it the Pokeball back onto his belt before running again. Too many options for casualties if he kept her out. Maybe Kestrel too, but he could at least-

He jinxed it, he knew. Immediately, a vine entangled itself across the Unfezant’s body, wrapping around his wings. There was a snap, and Alain swore, again. 

“Kuro, use-” His Charizard sliced the vine in half with a Dragon Claw immediately, reading Alain’s mind exactly. Kestrel began to fall, and Alain flinched at the awkward angle his left wing was bent at. He returned him immediately with a thank you, and then turned to X. “Damnit, X. Should you-”

“Keep going, Alain,” he snapped, meeting his gaze. Alain stared for a moment, but then nodded. Right. No stopping, no holding back. He kept running, with Kuro blazing a path in front of them with another Flamethrower. Grenousso and Elec provided extra coverage with Night Slash and Crunch, while Mystic blocked another vine with Reflect. Behind him, he heard Steven order a Flash Cannon, and ducked slightly to avoid the attack. Diantha’s Gardevoir followed up with a Moonblast, and both trainers were running on either side again, their Mega Evolved Pokemon both glowing blue with psychic power. 

“Don’t worry about the vines!” Steven yelled. Alain nodded. Another Flash Cannon, another Moonblast. Just a little farther, and then-

“Just keep going!” Diantha added. He did. He trusted, as another ten shot up out of the ground, as if there was absolutely no end to this at all- 

“Use Psychic!” All three Champions yelled, in the exact same moment. On the sides, Titan and Artemis both shone blue, followed by Mystic in the center. They drew two vines together, swirling them into a thick bridge. Alain risked a quick glance at X. He knew his friend didn’t quite understand that he was Kalos’ Champion quite yet - he’d seen it, back when the Gym Leaders had first shown up. But if anybody was Champion material, it was him. He watched as Mystic followed up with a Psyshock, combined with Moonblasts and Flash Cannons from Artemis and Titan. He kept pace with the Mega Evolved Pokemon easily, before blocking another vine with Reflect. The Meowstic kept darting in and out, and then Alain tore his gaze forwards, leaving all three Psychic types behind. They were so,  _ so,  _ close-

“Kuro, use Flamethrower!” 

“Grenousso, use Water Shuriken! Elec, use Wild Charge!” 

Ten, fifteen more vines shot out of the ground. Kuro roared, shooting into the air. Fire flared through Alain’s veins while X and Grenousso both moved together, the Greninja yanking the Water Shuriken off of his back. Elec leapt into the air, the Mega Manectric cracking with electricity, and he howled. Behind the swirling vines, Alain could see it. The Water Shuriken from earlier flashed blue against the scarlet of the Megalith’s core, and the vines parted, for just a split second. He looked at X, and their eyes met once. He nodded. Then he looked back to the Megalith, and-

_ Now. _

And then all three attacks shot through the air, and it all shattered. Before Alain could think, he just jumped, X at his side. He was falling - flying through the smoke of the explosion, Kuro behind him. He couldn’t see a thing, but he just kept going. Reached out, knowing that Chespie was so,  _ so  _ close-

Then he landed on rock solid crystal, X at his side, and dropped to the ground. 

“Alain!” X called. He caught him before he fell, just like Alain did for him back on the top of Prism Tower. How long had it been? An hour, maybe? Arceus, it felt like longer. Alain forced himself to breathe steadily, hands and knees on the ground. His heart was racing, he knew, and he tried to focus. Damnit. He wasn’t supposed to be tired  _ already,  _ not when Chespie was just-

“Chespie!” He looked up. Then he wasn’t even thinking anymore, pushing X away and forcing all of his pain down his throat as he sprinted forwards. The ground was a glimmering scarlet, as were the crystals hanging from the ceiling and crisscrossing in every way and direction. Then one shot forwards. Alain leapt to the left. Another one came. He flipped backwards, cursing to himself. He prepared to sprint forwards again, until he felt X’s hand on his wrist. He didn’t shake it off, this time. 

“Alain, are you okay?” He looked down. Was he okay? He’d lost Lance, failed Mairin, and would probably get them all killed if he failed here. Also, he was pretty sure he’d fractured something in his hand, and he could barely breathe. But he was fine, right?

“I’m good,” he decided. “Just cover me.” He looked at X, who stared at him for a moment. Then he nodded. 

“Okay.” And that was all Alain needed. He shot forwards again, while behind him, a Water Shuriken came flying. It whizzed right above his head, and smashed through a crystal that came crashing down from the ceiling. He sidestepped and vaulted himself over another one, as Kuro fired off a Flamethrower to block a third. They kept coming, and Alain just tried to ignore that if one of those hit him, he was done for. 

But he had to listen to X. He had to just trust him, and keep moving. So he did. He just kept running, while attacks flew around him from both sides, exploding the crystals in front of him. He was running blindly through the smoke again, until it cleared with another Flamethrower from Kuro. On his left, Elec shot into the air, smashing through another crystal with Wild Charge. Grenousso was next, spinning around and lashing out with endless Aerial Aces. Alain looked up. Chespie lay still, suspended between four crystals in an X shape. He shone red, eyes shut. Alain carefully judged the distance he still had to go. Not that much longer, he hoped. Just a few more steps, and then he’d have to jump-

“Don’t stop, Alain! Grenousso, use Water Shuriken!” X screamed from behind him. More crystals. Alain ducked, and a Water Shuriken whizzed above his head. It smashed through them. Alain took another step forwards, and then another, pushing all of his pain down his throat. He was close. He was so, so close-

He took one last step. His left foot touched down a final time on the crystal floor beneath him, and he jumped. At least eight crystals shot out behind him, and he heard X scream his name. But he just reached, higher and higher. He leaped, one arm outstretched, hoping that, even if for just this once, he could be enough-

_ Chespie. It’s Alain. I’m going to get you out of here. And then let’s go back to Mairin - together.  _

Then he had one hand around the Chespin’s small, limp form, and he was falling. Kuro caught him, holding him with one arm. Alain just tightened his grip on Chespie, holding him tighter and tighter. From outside, he heard somebody scream, and then it all fell silent. Kuro swooped down, Elec leaping onto his back as he picked up X with the other arm. Grenousso jumped after them. Then there were out - flying, as Alain gripped Kuro with one hand and Chespie with the other. And even if he couldn’t quite bring himself to smile, maybe just-

“Chespie!” Mairin cried, sprinting forwards. Alain watched the way she ran, the way she grinned, the way she held out her arms. Yeah. Well, that was enough. 

“Hey, Mairin.” And maybe for the first time, he didn’t care how weak his voice was, how he shook, or how he seemed to crack. Instead, he just smiled, and then passed Chespie into her arms, Kuro and Grenousso landing on the ground behind him. Seeing the ways her eyes sparkled, and the way she grinned, was plenty for him. He’d done something right. He’d done all he could, he’d fought, he’d tried, and he’d  _ succeeded.  _

“Alain,  _ thank you. _ ” And he just smiled at her, even as the happy tears welled in her eyes, and even when she pulled Chespie in tighter and tighter. All he’d wanted was to see her happy, and to see her smile. Lysandre had used him, he knew that, and now he was gone. Alain felt light, and he felt the closest thing to happiness he had in such a long, long time. 

“Now, all that’s left is what’s in front of us,” Steven said. So when their entire team turned, forming a line, Alain stared at the Megalith, its crystal core dull and shattered, Kuro at his side, and was fully ready. One final attack, and they’d tear it to pieces. Lysandre’s dream would fall, and it would burn. X counted down. They all waited, and then they all attacked. 

“Kuro, use Flamethrower!” And all the moves swirled together, into a blazing white beam, and pierced the Megalith right through the core. There was a huge explosion, along with a shatter. The Zygarde shaped rock crumpled - dropped, falling backwards. Alain stared, waiting. 

“Did it work?” Somebody asked. Nothing. Nobody answered, nobody budged, nobody-

Then, somehow, it moved. It shot upright again, crystal blazing scarlet once more. Alain froze, and he heard X gasp. It cried out, the sound the exact same as Zygarde’s. He kept growing colder. Something was wrong. That shouldn’t be possible. That shouldn’t-

Two, three steps. The click of footsteps, a brief flash of fiery red on the top of the Megalith’s figure. Alain stared, blood running cold. 

_ “You will never extinguish my dream.”  _ The words ran through his head, time and time again. Another step. A figure stood on the top of the Megalith’s head, a brown device glistening on his arm, wires and drones strewn out of his jetpack. His orange visor pulled back, sliding into place. 

“That’s not possible,” X gasped. Alain barely heard him. He just stared. “How could he have-” He put one hand out to the side. X stopped, and Alain stepped forwards. 

“Lysandre,” he spat. He turned his voice to absolute poison, as Kuro came up besides him. The dragon snarled, fire flaring from his nostrils. On the top of the Megalith, Lysandre looked down. His eyes narrowed. 

“Even if you’re somehow able to stop me, I will still recreate this world,” he said coldly. Alain didn’t let himself flinch. He just glared at him.  _ You’re a traitor. A murderer. I will kill you Lysandre, even if it’s the last thing I do,  _ he swore. “Count on it,” Lysandre spat. Alain met his eyes evenly, and silently, Kuro stepped out in front of him. 

“I’d like to see you try.” And on top of everything else, Lysandre was nothing but a fool. Because Alain knew one thing - he looked at Kuro, lifted his chin, and he thought of a single, small green cell, sleeping in the sun. You never, ever, messed with the wrath of a dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not ready for this to be over :(((


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lysandre takes one final shot at recreating the world. X will do anything to stop him, and there's only a single option left.

_ X POV, 9:43 PM _

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

“I’d like to see you try.” Alain’s voice was ice cold, and X could have sworn he saw his eyes flash an electric, fiery blue. Besides him, Kuro stepped forwards and then roared, shooting a huge column of fire into the air. But Lysandre just stared him down, meeting his gaze evenly, and then let out a harsh bark of laughter that sent shivers down X’s spine.  _ How is he even doing this?  _ He wanted to ask. The words never came. Instead, Grenousso and Elec both stepped up beside him, as the whole line took a single step forwards.

“You really think you can stop me?” Lysandre said incredulously. “The countdown to destruction will not stop!” Then he held out one hand, the brown device on his arm sprouting two wing-like shapes on the front, and multiple more on the sides with a click. X heard somebody behind him gasp. Then the rock Zygarde was drawing back with a cry, and he knew exactly what was coming. 

“Everybody, watch out!” He heard Diantha yell. X threw Mystic’s Great Ball into the air again, and his Meowstic shot forwards. 

“Use Light Screen, quick!” Both he, Valerie, and Olympia yelled. The two male Meowstic fanned out to the sides, while Valerie’s Sylveon leapt to the front. A pink tinted barrier surrounded the entire group, and then the Megalith fired. 

A huge red beam shot from its core, and X gasped. Then he was flying backwards, the heat blazing. He hit the ground before he knew it, wind knocked out from his lungs completely, while Elec and Grenousso landed just a couple feet away. He heard somebody scream, and then it was silent again. X waited for a moment, letting himself catch his breath, and then he stood up, brushing himself off. He was fine. He had to be fine. 

“Grenousso, Elec, Mystic! Everybody okay?” His Greninja climbed to his feet first, and then nodded. Mystic and Elec followed, though the Meowstic winced, clearly having taken the most damage from being on the front lines. “Mystic, thank you. Return.” X held out a Great Ball, and the Meowstic disappeared in a flash of blue light. Then he turned, watching as the rest of their team climbed to their feet shakily, and met Lysandre’s gaze once again. 

“X, what do we do?” Somebody asked. It sounded like Shauna, but X couldn’t be bothered to turn around and check. He tried to think, as Lysandre raised his arm and the Megalith started crawling forwards once more. It was moving. It still had all of that power, even though they’d rescued Chespie. How? He tried to think. But he wasn’t the smart one. X never had been. That was-

“X, I’ve got it!” Well, it had always been Trevor. X turned as his friend tapped him on the shoulder. He had it? “It’s got something to do with the device on Lysandre’s arm, I just know it. We need to get rid of it!” He pestered. The device? X turned back to stare at Lysandre’s, whose arm was extended. He watched, for just a moment. Then he nodded. 

“I gotcha. Thanks, Trevor.” He hoped he was right. He really,  _ really,  _ hoped he was right. If not, how else were they supposed to stop him? He took a deep breath, and then turned to his entire team. “Everybody, listen to me! The power controlling the Megalith has something to do with the device on Lysandre’s arm!” X yelled. Everybody turned to stare at him, and he just met their eyes evenly and calmly. He had to be calm, strong, brave. He was their Champion. He had to prove it. And when nobody spoke for a long moment, it was Alain who stepped up, his eyes shining with absolute fire, and X felt so, so thankful. 

“Then we have to destroy it at once,” he said. Everybody turned to both of them, and then nodded. X’s face twitched into a slight smile, and then he turned back to face the Megalith, which grew closer and closer. Then, without thinking, he just sprinted forwards.

“Just like rescuing Chespie! Alain and I will get up there and destroy it, if you can all cover us!” X yelled, sprinting forwards. Grenousso leapt up besides up, flipping and then slicing through a vine with Aerial Ace. But it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t the same as before - it wasn’t just the vines, coming from each and every direction, and it wasn’t just running and defending and covering. Because before X knew, there was another red beam, and then he was flying backwards. There was no time for a Light Screen, and he knew he wasn’t the only one who screamed. He landed on the ground with a thud, Grenousso at his side. Elec lay unmoving before reverting to his normal form, and X swore to himself. One hit, and Elec was out. Damnit. He muttered a thank you, and then returned the Manectric to his Pokeball with a flash. Around him, trainers and Pokemon were both climbing to their feet - Elec wasn’t the only one unconscious, either. He saw Y, returning an unmoving Queen and swearing at the tear in her wingsuit, while Alain stood with Kuro and Mairin, the Charizard having sheltered both of them from most of the attack. Alain sprayed him with a Super Potion, and X stood up, brushing himself off again. He turned to stare at the Megalith again, and Lysandre standing on top of it, the device on his arm completely intact. What did they do now? They couldn’t even get close, let alone climb to the top of the rock and take out Lysandre. X took a deep breath. Think. He had to think. They had to do  _ something,  _ and he had to at least  _ try- _

“Squishy!” Shauna cried. X whipped around, and so did Y. 

“Squishy?” The Sky Trainer asked, fear edging her voice. Both cores had leapt out of Shauna’s arms, hopping forwards. X stared, but didn’t move. Then he looked back at the Megalith, at the Zygarde standing forwards together, shining green-

_ I am Zygarde, defender of order!  _ A voice echoed. X froze. He stared, openly, at Squishy and the other core - one green and red, one green and blue - both standing in front of them all, between them at the Megalith. What was… What the hell? Did Squishy just  _ talk?  _ He turned to Alain, who didn’t look away from the Zygarde, and at Y, whose jaw dropped. A green shield appeared around both cores, and they shone the same emerald as they did back when they… transformed. 

_ We will show them our true power!  _ Then there were two voices, as green waves shot out in all directions. X couldn’t help it. He just stared. He didn’t know what there was to say, except for that he really,  _ really,  _ hoped they were on the right side-

_ You won’t destroy the world!  _ The Zygarde declared. And then the streamers of green came pouring in from all directions - dozens, it seemed. A hundred. They kept coming, as the two cores stood and crackled with a blazing lime green. Then they were glowing, with a blinding green flash, and X recoiled. It was bright. It was so, so bright- 

A green column shot into the air. Both Zygarde began to float, turning into nothing but white orbs of light, merging together and then  _ shifting _ into some X had never, ever seen before. It stretched, growing limbs and a huge body, tendrils shooting out from its shoulders. Then it flashed a violet, smoky purple, and the light was gone. 

“Squishy!” Y screamed. X couldn’t see Squishy anymore. Instead, floating in the air, was a huge, black, mecha shaped creature, with huge green claws, and tendril-like limbs coming from its shoulders. The ones on its right side were tipped with the cyan of Z-2’s core, and the left with the vermillion of Squishy’s. 

“Is that… Zygarde?” Alain asked. And somehow, X felt like he already knew the answer. 

“Those deep green eyes,” Olympia echoed. Her eyes were wide and blank, and X nodded. “That is it - the form when all has become one!” And he remembered. He remembered, back when he’d challenged Olympia for his seventh gym badge - it had seemed so, so far fetched at the time. A green flame, that would engulf Kalos completely. A future, that Olympia had seen, and then she’d continued to promise that they’d all play a substantial role in the chaos. And here they were. Zygarde, floating above them. Lysandre and the Megalith, making one last stand. And as Team Flare's leader stepped forwards, X could see the absolute fury in his eyes. 

“And still, you hid this form from me?” He spat. X refused to flinch - to move, to back down. “You must have been seeing the world in the same way I was!” He persisted. “The unlimited greed of humans has sent the world spinning into chaos - have you not felt that? If I had not raised my objections, the world would have continued on its warped path. But now, you choose to appear? What could possibly be left to defend? You have no right!” He screeched. X didn’t move. He watched, as Lysandre’s face contorted into pure rage. And he watched, as Zygarde floated calmly, waiting for a long moment. Then its eyes flashed a blazing white, and spoke. 

“If it is a right you speak of, this world belongs to them!” Zygarde said. The dual voices were real, this time, bold and echoing across the barren, burnt field. X’s jaw dropped. “I have placed my hopes in humanity. They have always protected me, and they kept their promise not to leave my side! Now it is my turn!” Zygarde shot out one arm. X gasped. 

“I will  _ incinerate you! _ ” Lysandre roared, the brown device on his arm flipping out. The Megalith shone scarlet, and then fired off a blazing red beam. X blinked. Then Zygarde was countering, all four tendrils on its shoulders opening to launch off a swirling Dragon Pulse. It met the beam in the middle, and everything exploded into smoke. Debris flew everywhere, and X covered his face with one arm, shutting his eyes when the light burst everywhere. Then the Zygarde Megalith cried out again, twisting red vines shooting out of the ground. The real Zygarde shot into the air, swerving and spinning around each and every attack with a flawless, honed precision, and then it turned. In a flash, it shone green with the power of an Extreme Speed, and smashed through not only all the vines, but right into the Megalith’s core. It skidded backwards, and Lysandre extended his arm again. 

“Ignorant fool!” He screamed. X froze. He blinked, once. Then he moved. 

“Grenousso, now! Use Water Shuriken!” He yelled. Without hesitation, his Greninja leapt into the air, drawing the Water Shuriken off of his back. Then Alain was on his right, Kuro shooting into the air with a roar.

“Kuro, use Flamethrower!” Alain screamed. And then they were both firing, the attacks flying and smashing into Lysandre’s arm. The device clattered to the rock surface of the Zygarde, panels shattering. Lysandre stared, clutching the spot on his right arm where it used to be. He gaped, up at Zygarde, and then down at X and Alain. The Champion looked at him, meeting his gaze evenly and calmly, with all the authority he could muster. 

“You failed, Lysandre.” X’s voice echoed across the plain, and he felt everyone turning to stare at him. He didn’t look at them. He just swallowed, and looked at Lysandre, who stared at Zygarde, eyes wide. 

“It can’t be!” He stammered, staggering backwards. “All of my meticulous planning was  _ perfect!”  _ Zygarde just stared down at him, and then X could have sworn it shook its head. And wordlessly, it shot forwards again, glowing green, and pierced right through the Megalith’s core. 

There was a shattering noise, as scarlet crystals flew everywhere. Lysandre stumbled backwards with a scream. The Megalith was shaking, exploding with red energy and white beams of light. Zygarde shot back into the air, spinning once. He shone green. X gasped. 

“Kalos! We are Zygarde, and we will protect you!” And then there was a blue and green beam, and orb, charging and charging and ready to aim-

“Squishy, go!” Y screamed. And then it fired. A beam, swirling with blue, violet, and green, pierced into the ground, shooting in one direction and then another. It formed a blazing green Z on the ground. It was silent, for just a moment. Then, X breathed, and it all exploded. 

“No, not yet!” He heard Lysandre scream. “It’s not over yet! I’ll still-” His voice was cut off by an explosion. Everything flared into a blinding lime colored light, followed by a green smoke that enveloped the entire Megalith. Then rocks were flying everywhere, beams of white light shooting through the air. X forced himself to stand, silently, strong. He watched, as the Megalith exploded. As the green light shot out in all directions, and as Lysandre screamed one last time. Then, suddenly, it was all over. 

About thirty seconds later, the smoke entirely cleared. X blinked, once, and then twice. He scanned the crowd for his friends, who all stood, silently, jaws slightly agape. He looked at Zygarde, still floating in the air. At the huge crater in the ground, and the pile of rock and rubble. At Alain and Kuro, who’d lost far too much in the fight. At Mairin, with Chespie in her arms, and at everybody, who all stood silently. Nobody moved, for a long moment. And then somebody cheered, followed by another and another, and X grinned. 

“We won, X,” Y said softly. She stared at him, and then down at the tear in her wingsuit, and smiled. “I can’t believe we actually won.” He smiled back at her. 

“Me neither,” he answered honestly. “But we did. And thank you.” He took her hand and squeezed it, a promise to talk later, and then walked away. He had an entire League to check on, firstly. 

“Everybody good?” He called out. But he already knew the answer. He looked out at their team, at his friends, the Gym Leaders, Malva, Diantha. Steven, Professor Sycamore, Mairin, and Alain. They were nearly all smiling, and when they nodded, X just felt  _ happy.  _ He felt happy, knowing that he’d been able to step up when they all needed him the most. He felt happy, knowing that he’d done his job right, and that they’d all live another day. 

So he just stood there and watched - watched, as Malva headed out with a promise to round up Team Flare and turn herself in. Watched, as Chespie finally woke up, sending tears pouring down Mairin’s face. But he knew they were the happy kind, and X was more than okay with that. Alain and the Professor were there, as his friend said something to Mairin, only for her to shake her head. Knowing Alain, he was probably apologizing, even though nothing here had ever been his fault. He watched, as they all said goodbye to the two Zygarde, and he’d held Y’s hand when she cried, promising that she’d find Squishy again one day. He watched, as the Gym Leaders all said their goodbyes, and got rides from Anistar City back to their own homes. He watched, as his friends all smiled and hugged and cheered, even as he remained a few feet apart. He watched, the way Alain so carefully handled both his Mega Ring and Kuro’s Charizardite, before placing them in the corner of his bag, where he couldn’t see them anymore, alongside Lance’s empty Ultra Ball, retrieved from the helicopter. 

And when the crowd had almost completely cleared - when it was just him, and his friends, who had never, ever let him down - X finally collapsed, laying on the ground, looking up at the stars. The red clouds had cleared, and he smiled, as Grenousso lay at his side and Y on the other, folding her hand in with his. They just watched, the twinkling of the stars against the midnight blue sky. And X was happy, knowing what they’d done. Lysandre was gone. All it had taken was that one shot they had, and the one shot they took. They’d set his dream on fire, watched it go up in flames, and then burnt it to nothing but ashes. 

And now, X knew, they’d set the entire world free. And what a beautiful, perfect world it was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god. it’s over. it’s _over._ zygarde pulls through. lysandre falls, and before you ask – he’s dead. he’s completely, thoroughly dead. as in they find the body later dead. bc i hate him and he deserves to die. but anyways, so. uh. arceus, i don’t even know what to say. welp. i’m sad this is over. thank you for reading. thank you for commenting. thank you for everything. i love you guys so much, and this is why i write. i write to share with you guys, in hopes that i’ll just… make somebody happy, i guess. i don’t know. that’s why i’m so sad – i may have finished this fic a month ago, but i’m sad now. not then. when i finish posting is when it’s over. but i’m trying to write this note and nothing is coming to me, so for now, i’ll just leave it. maybe i’ll make a nice long author’s note in the comments later on, if i can think of anything. but for now? that's it. i just want you all to know how much i love you all, and how much you all mean to me. thanks for everything. thanks for sticking with me. thanks for loving this fic (i hope) like i did. it means so, so much to be me that people like my stuff.
> 
> so thank you, a million times over. i don't have any fics to post for the next month or two, but once i finish or have made decent progress on my nanowrimo, you can expect that. over the winter, i've got plans to do more ignire-verse expansion - the mega evolution specials. x's rivalry with his alain, and his and grenousso's journey to the top. y and squishy, and how she found her dream. i hope you'll look forwards to it. and apart from that? that's all i've got for you all. this has been great. i'm so sad it's over. but if i made one person even the slightest bit happy with this fic, that's enough for me. thank you, again. you're the best. i wouldn't write if it wasn't for all of you <3

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are much appreciated if you enjoyed <3
> 
> i do want to say, however, that if you have critiques, please be nice about it - I did my best with this fic, and I know it isn't perfect, but I'm still proud of it. so if you have something that will help me improve, I totally understand! just try and be mindful that this is something I worked really hard on, and that I'd really rather you not tell me it's horrible or anything, if that all makes sense. harsh criticisms can be really upsetting for a writer, so just... be nice, i guess? :P 
> 
> thank you for reading, and i really appreciate all of you! <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [the last impostor](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27152713) by [fannishtendencies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fannishtendencies/pseuds/fannishtendencies)




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